period of 10 years and may be renewed indefinitely. The rules of law applicable to it are similar to those applied to national trade marks by the Member States. Companies will therefore find themselves in a familiar environment, just on a larger scale. Another advantage are the fees. The initial cost of filing an application to register an EU trade mark is much less than filing separate national applications in all EU member states (which currently number 27). For filing purposes, the economic advantage of using the EUTM system increases according to the number of member states where a trade mark owner uses or proposes to use its mark. If a trade mark owner will only sell products or deliver services in fewer than three or four member states, consideration should be given to seeking registration in these countries rather than applying for an EU trade mark. However, the economic advantage of using the EU trade mark system will quickly dissipate if an application is rejected on grounds which do not apply in all EU states (for example following opposition based on earlier conflicting national rights). This is because, although the applicant for a failed EU trade mark application may attempt to salvage the situation by converting the application into one or more national applications in EU states in which the grounds for refusal do not apply, the applicant cannot recover the costs of filing the EU trade mark application and must repay to file in each country where the EU trade mark application is converted. In addition, the increasing size of the EU increases the probability that there will be third parties who consider that an EU trade mark application conflicts with their trade mark rights, and oppose the application accordingly. History The EU Trade Mark concept originated in 1964 in a draft of a "Convention on European Trademark Law". However, it was not until 1980 that the first proposal for a regulation dealing with the EU Trade Mark appeared. Regulation came into effect with Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark: but it was not until 1 April 1996 that the first CTM applications were processed and the register began to operate. See also European Union Intellectual Property Office Madrid system World Intellectual Property Organization References External links European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in five languages (Spanish, German, English, French