Following the accession of Cyprus to the European Union on 1 May 2004, it also became a member of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

OHIM is based in Alicante Spain and it is the Office where applications are accepted for the Registration of Community Trade Marks (CTM) and Community Industrial Designs (RCD).

A Community Trade Mark registration grants to its proprietor a uniform right valid in all Member States of the European Union by means of one procedural system. Thus once a Trade Mark is registered as a Community Trade Mark, its proprietor is protected to use such Trade Mark in all 27 country members of the European Union and may prohibit others from using same in any of those 27 EU countries.

When a CTM is registered, its date of registration is backdated to the date of the initial application. A CTM to stay in force must be renewed every 10 years.

Anyone can apply for the registration of their mark as a Community Trade Mark as long as they have their domicile or principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Community or have appointed a legal practitioner that is qualified in a Member State who is entitled to act in that Member State as a representative in Trade Mark matters and who has his/her place of business in the European Union.

As with national Trade Marks, a Trade Mark application (form Mod.009) must be filed with the Office of OHIM together with an Authorization form. The Office proceeds to the examination of the mark on absolute grounds and especially the correct classification of the goods and/ or services, in turn the Office proceeds with the publication of the mark and then to its registration.

As of 17 September 2011 Tsitsios & Associates LLC is a registered representative of OHIM.  Thus anyone interested in filing an application for a Community Trade Mark before the OHIM should feel free to contact our office.  Note that if you or your company are not based in the Community, you MUST be represented before the OHIM.