This is further to my earlier postings dated April 01, 2010, titled In the Pipeline: Future Revision of the Trade Mark System in the European Union and of April 15, 2010 titled Hungarian Way Of The Future Revision Of The Trade Mark System In The European Union, respectively. Following the Working Party meeting on 15 April 2010 and being intended for discussion at the meeting of the Working Party on 28 April 2010 (see CM 2580/10), the General Secretariat of the Council has published Document 8767/10 conveying a set of revised draft Council conclusions drawn up by the EU Presidency.
It appears as if many of the amendments as proposed by the Hungarian delegation in Document 8510/10 are now part of the Official politics of the EU Presidency.
In accordance with the Hungarian proposal, Sect 9a has been introduced stating that national trade marks continue to meet the economic needs of a large number of applicants, in particular those of SMEs, and that, therefore, national trade mark protection should be maintained as a reasonable option for these applicants has been inserted into the Official text.
However, the EU Presidency apparently was not brave enough to dare explicitly demanding a revision of the 'genuine use' provisions in the Regulation on Community Trade Marks. However, we find in the recent draft an ominous clause saying that the revision should include in particular amendments and other measures aimed at enhancing the complementary relationship between the Community and national trade mark systems. With other words, essential points are deliberately left open, and we surely might expect some [ugly?] surprises to come later on.