Next Wednesday, 23 March, is EUIPO-Day -- the date on which our good friends at OHIM get re-branded.  No longer will the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market be charming users with its wit, wisdom, effficiency and vitality: instead we shall have to learn to love it in its rebranded form when it becomes the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).  Like the organisation itself, MARQUES is in countdown mode.  Today, 17 March, is EUIPO-Day minus 6.

No change of personality is easy, and this one is particularly difficult since it involves not merely a change of name but a whole bunch of electronic and digital reconfiguration

According to OHIM:

On March 22, from 00.00 CET to March 23 at 00.00 CET, OHIM will be installing all the necessary system upgrades to adapt our website and online applications to reflect the new name of the Office and implement the legal changes brought about by Regulation 2015/2424.

As a result, on March 22, a scheduled interruption of our online services will take place for 24 hours in order to change the Office's name and that of the Community trade mark to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and the European Union trade mark, as well as to implement all the necessary changes to our registration applications and tools.

The Office will remain closed for business on that day in order to complete this transition.

The President of the Office has issued a decision adding March 22 to the list of official public holidays for 2016.

On March 22 we will update our website, e-business applications, fee calculators and online tools. Our current web address, www.oami.europa.eu will automatically redirect to our new domain name www.euipo.europa.eu on and after March 23.

For electronic communications, please note that our email addresses will change to name.surname@euipo.europa.eu as and from March 23, although the current name.surname@oami.europa.eu email addresses will run in parallel to the new addresses for several months.

The European Trade Mark and Design Network site and the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights site will also be unavailable on March 22 for 24 hours.

For more information, we invite you to consult our web section dedicated to the amending Regulation and the changes it will bring.