Community TrademarkThis applies equally where applicants decide to convert their application or registered Community trademark into national applications. There is therefore no risk involved in deciding immediately to opt for a Community trademark. The Community trademark has been designed to complement the national systems of protection. If applicants or proprietors of a Community trademark already hold a prior identical national trademark for identical goods and services they may claim the seniority of that mark. This allows them to preserve their prior rights even if they surrender their national trademark or do not renew it. This simplification results in considerably reduced costs as compared with the overall costs of national registration in all or many of the countries of the European Union. The registration fee only needs to be paid once no obstacles remain to the trademark being granted. It is a simple procedure and applications may be made either at national industrial property offices or directly to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. The Community trademark is unitary in nature, which means it is valid everywhere in the European Community, and gives owners exclusive rights enabling them to prohibit any third parties from using the sign in their commercial or industrial activities. Filing a Community trademark application is not expensive. A Community trademark may be maintained in all the countries of the European Union by using it effectively and genuinely in a single Member State. Any company, even if it wishes to use its trademark in one or in a few Member States only, may therefore validly obtain a Community trademark without having to fear revocation proceedings on the grounds of lack of use. The unitary nature of the Community trademark, which covers all the countries of the European Union, means that formalities and management can be kept simple:
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