Community Trademarks (CTM) Conversion
A CTM - Community trademark – conversion is the process of turning an, usually refused, CTM into one or more national applications.
Advantages of converting a CTM trademark into national trademarks are:
1. The best option in case of a problematic or refused CTM. The fact that you had a problem in one country shouldn’t stop you from protecting your trademark in the other countries or even in the same one, with slight differencies.
2. Priority and seniority are preserved. The national trade mark application resulting from the conversion of a Community trade mark application or a Community trade mark shall enjoy in the member states the date of filing or the date of priority of that application or trade mark and, where appropriate, the seniority of a trade mark of that State. The priority date will be the one of the CTM filing or CTM designation in an International Trademark registration (IRS).
3. The conversion cost is only €200 irrespectively of the number of countries indicated in the application.
