商標登録insideNews: Notice of 7 September 2021 | DPMA

a) Harmonisation with the current legal situation of the Madrid system (entry into force: 1 May 2022)
The Trade Mark Act, the Trade Mark Ordinance (Markenverordnung) and the schedule of fees are brought into line with the current legal situation of the Madrid system (sections 107 et seq. of the Trade Mark Act, section 25 No. 31, sections 43, 45 and 46 (1) of the Trade Mark Ordinance, Part A section III No. 5 of the annex to section 2 (1) of the Patent Costs Act). Since 31 October 2015, all members of the Madrid Agreement are also members of the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement. Due to the fact that the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement takes priority over the Madrid Agreement, the international registration of marks is now only governed by the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement. This is taken into account by the amendments.

b) Clarifying the calculation of the duration of protection in the Trade Mark Act (entry into force: 18 August 2021)
The provisions on the duration of protection in the Trade Mark Act and in the European Union Trade Mark Regulation will be completely harmonised as regards their wording. In order to facilitate the calculation of the time limit, it is clarified by means of the harmonisation that section 47 (1) of the Trade Mark Act – just as the European Union Trade Mark Regulation – refers to a time period that is triggered by an event. The calculation of the duration of protection will not be changed as a result of the amendment.

e) Switching back from the "one-class model" to the "three-class model" for the conversion of a European Union trade mark into a national trade mark (entry into force: 1 May 2022)
For the conversion of a European Union trade mark into a national trade mark, what is known as the “three-class model” will be reintroduced into the fee system (part A, section III, No. 5 of the annex to section 2 (1) of the Patent Costs Act). Under the up to now applicable "one-class model", the conversion of European Union trade marks into national trade marks results in higher fees compared to a national trade mark application, for which the "three-class model" applies, although the examination effort is basically the same. This will be remedied by the amendment.