The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$16.8 trillion in 2007) of the world's nominal gross world product.

E.U. Members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

For a complete view over all European countries, please consult this chart from the European Commision.

A Community Trade Mark (CTM) is any trademark which is pending registration or has been registered in the European Union as a whole (rather than on a national level within the EU). The same process applies to for Industrial Designs (Community Design)

The CTM system creates a unified trademark/design registration system in Europe, whereby one registration provides protection in all member states of the EU. The CTM system is unitary in character. Although an objection against a CTM application in any member state can defeat the entire application, a CTM registration is enforceable in all member states.

The CTM system is administered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), which is located in Alicante, Spain.

Downloadable Files

OHIM - Power of Attorney (Trademarks and Designs).pdf