OHIM: Communication No 2/06 of the President of The Office of 19 June 2006 Concerning the Enlargement of the European Union in 2007.
In a Document titled "Communication No 2/06 of the President of the Office of 19 June 2006 concerning the enlargement of the European Union in 2007", Mr. Wubbo de Boer writes:
"[...] I. Two new Member States
On 1st January 2007, the European Union will be enlarged for the sixth time since the establishment of the European Community in 1957. The Treaty of Accession was signed with Bulgaria and Romania on 25 April 2005.
This event follows the accession of ten Member States in May 2004, a challenge which the Office successfully met while bringing enhanced benefits to users of the Community Trade Mark and Design systems with the minimal of disruption.
Based on the experience gained in relation to that, the Office launched in July 2004 the implementation of the necessary internal preparations ('the road map towards the 2007 enlargement') to prepare for the changes anticipated as a result of the forthcoming accession, notably the impact of the new languages (in particular, Bulgarian which has a Cyrillic alphabet).
The present communication refers to the main consequences of enlargement on both the CTM and CD systems, as well as the additional preparations made by the Office to cope with this new enlargement round.
II. Consequences for holders of Community trade marks and Community designs
The results of the negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania as regards the Community Trade Mark and Designs systems are the same as the ones agreed with the ten Member States which joined in May 2004, notably the automatic extension of CTMs and CDs and the grandfathering of earlier rights.
From a technical point of view, this has been achieved by amending the list of Member States provided by Article 159a(1) CTMR and 110a(1) CDR, leaving the rest of the provisions as they were.
Therefore, the consequences explained in detail in the Communication No 05/03 of the President of the Office of 16 October 2003 concerning the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 (http://oami.europa.eu/.../05-03.htm) apply mutatis mutandi to the 2007 accession. The text of the relevant provisions can be found at the Office's website, in its enlargement section (http://oami.europa.eu/.../enlargement2007.htm).[...]"
In a 
Document titled "Communication No 2/06 of the President of the Office of 19 June 2006 concerning the enlargement of the European Union in 2007", Mr. Wubbo de Boer writes: