Community Trade Marks Office

The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) aka the Community Trade Marks Office in Alicante has advertised (29 October) for both the President of the Office as a whole and a chairman of a board of appeal. The Office is independent as regards technical, administrative and financial matters but its decisions are, of course, subject to appeal (via judicial review) to the Court of First Instance. It is responsible for issuing and administering the Community trademarks that are operative throughout the whole of the EU. In the future it will also administer Community designs. It will have a budget for year 2000 of some 100 million euros and a staff of approximately 600.

The President (salary at grade A2) not only has responsibility for running the Office and representing it externally but also has the political objective of participating in the development of a harmonised system of intellectual property rights and hence the power to submit to the Commission proposals to amend the Trade Marks Regulation and "any other rules applying to the Community trade mark". The Chairmen of the various Boards of Appeal not only preside over their respective 3-member Boards but are also responsible for managing them.