Definition of a current account

Transcription

1 Definition of a current account A current account is not a bank account but a simple account within the accountancy system of the Office (SAP/R3), which is included in the accounts receivables ledger. All the funds received from a particular client (by transfers) are credited to his account, with the exception of specific, individual payments. All fees and charges are debited from his account unless it is clearly stated in the application that payment will be made by bank transfer (BT). Automatic debiting system The system of current accounts is an automatic debiting system. All fees and charges due are automatically debited from the current account of the party to the proceedings before the Office. Where a professional representative within the meaning of Article 93 of the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CTMR) acts on behalf of the party to the proceedings, fees and charges are debited from the current account of the representative if the representative has established such account. The automatic debiting system will always ensure timely payment if the current account is provided with sufficient funds. Whenever a fee is to be debited, the necessary internal instructions will be given to the Finance Department of the Office, which will verify the availability of sufficient funds on the current account. Opening of a current account Natural or legal persons who may be proprietors of Community trade marks, persons who may represent third parties before the Office or associations of representatives may open current accounts. 1

2 The opening of a current account shall be subject to the filing of a signed application in writing, addressed to: OFFICE FOR HARMONIZATION IN THE INTERNAL MARKET Resources Department - Accounting and Treasury Avenida de Europa, 4 E ALICANTE SPAIN Fax [email protected] You will then receive the necessary documentation including a declaration to be signed stating that you accept the terms and conditions relating to the use of the current account, in particular the automatic debiting system. In the case you decide to open a current account, you will be asked by the Office to make an initial provision of in order to render the current account operational. No obligation exists to hold a minimum balance of on the account. Replenishment of current accounts Means of payment: Current accounts may be replenished by means of bank transfer. The replenishment is credited to the account according to Art. 8 of the Fees Regulation (Commission Regulation (EC) No 2869/95), that means: Payments by bank transfers are credited to the account with the same date that the bank credits the Office itself. When you intend to replenish your current account, the Office recommends to initiate the payment with sufficient time in advance, in order to make sure that the money arrives within the delays. 2

3 Attribution of a payment to the current account: In order to make sure that payments are correctly credited to the current account, it is important to respect indications made in article 7 of the above mentioned regulation: "Every payment must indicate the name of the person making the payment and must contain the necessary information to enable the Office to establish the purpose of the payment." Payments from current account holders should therefore include the necessary information about the current account holder and the current account number. No special indications concerning particular trademarks and/or fees are necessary and should therefore not be given. Individual payments, this means, payments, which indicate particular trademarks and/or fees as payment purpose will not be credited to the current account and will therefore not show up in the current account statement. The Office will observe the practice of current account holders as to avoid clients recurring to individual payments instead of replenishments of current accounts. Individual payments are supposed to be a minority, otherwise a current account would be used in an inadequate way (see also the point on inadequate use of current accounts). 3

4 Nomenclature of the current account statement Request for additional information on current account movements Requests for additional information on fee payments charged to the account, replenishments and other movements may be obtained by sending a letter or fax to the Finance Department of the Office: OFFICE FOR HARMONIZATION IN THE INTERNAL MARKET Resources Department - Accounting and Treasury Avenida de Europa, 4 E ALICANTE SPAIN Fax [email protected] 4

5 Control mechanism for optimizing the current account balance: Current account clients who want to manage their account with a minimum balance, thus avoiding excess treasury, should put in place a control mechanism, which should take into account the following elements: They should know at which moment fees will be debited (delays of payment) and establish a list of amounts and due dates. They should reconcile their forecasts with the current account statement. The order of debiting the fees of the different CTM-files of the client does not correspond to the actual date of filing, but depends on the examination procedure within the Office. Anyhow, a minimum balance would be advisable. The administrative procedure of debiting fees to current accounts within the Office: 5

6 The whole procedure is carried out in several phases: 1. Determination of the fee amount and debit request from an examiner. 2. Daily availability control by the accounting service. 3. Booking procedure. 4. Debiting of a fee to the current account. Insufficient funds on current accounts - consequences In the case that, at a certain date when the Office tries to debit a fee, sufficient funds are not available, the Office initiates the procedure of notification of insufficient funds. 1. As soon as an insufficiency arises, the current account is blocked for further debits. These debits are put in a stand by position until further verification. There is no legal impact on the corresponding trade mark procedure. 2. Verification of the insufficiency after the closure of the corresponding accounting period, thus taking into account any possible incoming funds that might avoid the notification and unblock the current account. 3. If, at this stage, an insufficiency persists, the procedure continues. The current account remains blocked and new debits are still put in stand by position. The notification letter, including the administrative charges, is prepared together with a current account statement closed on the day when the insufficiency first arose. 4. The complete notification is verified internally, and only then faxed to the client. Consequences of a notification of insufficient funds: The client has one month from the receipt of this notification, to fill up his account with sufficient funds in order cover the fees and the administrative charges: If sufficient funds arrive within the delay, no legal impact on the corresponding trade mark procedures arises. If sufficient funds do not arrive within the delay, the Office considers that the fees included in the notification are not paid and continues the trade mark procedure accordingly. 6

7 Possibility of claims: If the client considers that a notification is not justified, the Office invites them to present their complaint. In this case it is sufficient to send the complaint by fax to the OHIM Finance Department. The most frequent complaints, as regards the OHIM experience, concern fund transfers to the Office that have not been taken into account at the moment the notification was issued. In this case, and in order to avoid unnecessary exchange of correspondence, the Office would need to receive a complaint including a copy of the transfer order to the bank and a copy of the bank statement with the corresponding charge. Consequences of no replenishment in time after a notification of insufficient funds: Where a notification of the Finance Department invites to fill up the current account, the holder of the account has to pay within the one month time limit fixed, an amount which is at least equal to the amount of the fees plus the administrative charges. If the account holder does not fill up his current account, the fees have not been paid. The further legal consequences of this depend on the nature of the fee: Any appeal, opposition or application for registration of a transfer shall be deemed not to have been filed. Where the fee is a basic application fee, a communication pursuant to Rule 9 (1) must be issued. The automatic debiting system, which is the philosophy of the current account system, will, from this moment on, be considered as interrupted. The current account holder, in the case that he wants to pay the fee, can do this in two ways: By giving a clear and written instruction to debit the current account for the concrete fee (if the debiting of the current account does not work, for the second time, due to a lack of funds, the fee is, definitively, deemed not to have been paid) By presenting a transfer payment for that concrete fee. 7

8 Closure of a current account In order to close an existing current account, the holder only needs to address a letter to the OHIM Finance Department giving the corresponding instructions: OFFICE FOR HARMONIZATION IN THE INTERNAL MARKET Resources Department - Accounting and Treasury Avenida de Europa, 4 E ALICANTE SPAIN Fax [email protected] It is advisable to indicate the full bank account (including SWIFT code) to which you want your funds to be transferred. Once the instruction of closing the current account has been received, the Office proceeds with the closing procedure, which consists of several steps: The current account is blocked for further fee debit instructions for the operating units (examination division, opposition division, etc.). Current fee debit operations are finished. The final account statement is sent to the client for his approval. Once the approval is given, the Office transfers the funds to the client's bank account. The current account holder should take care that fees related to CTM files still are paid, even during and after the closure of his current account. It is up to him to know which CTM files might still generate fee payments. Inadequate use of current accounts According to Article 12 of the Decision of the President of the Office concerning the current accounts, the Office reserves the right to close the current account by means of written notification to the holder. 8

9 Due to the current account system being an automatic debiting system, an inadequate use of a current account refers to the fact that the client does not respect the character of this system and thus hampers a correct and smooth management of the current account system. Taking into account the experience acquired during the past years, the Operation Support Department (OSD) has already established some inadequate uses of current accounts: Making individual payments of fees instead of replenishments of current accounts: Current account holders sometimes send transfers indicating as payment purpose a particular fee instead of the replenishment of the current account. This may especially refer to situations where a client refused the use of his account for a particular fee. The Operation Support Department (OSD), however, considers the repeated payment of individual fees instead of normal replenishment of a current account as inadequate use, because it does not allow the automatic debiting. Repeated situations of lack of funds: Current account holders sometimes fail to replenish their account with sufficient funds, thus provoking notifications on insufficient funds and administrative charges. Situations like that may arise and the current account system is prepared to solve them. The Operation Support Department (OSD), however, considers long lasting and repeated situations of lack of funds as an inadequate use, because it does not allow the automatic debiting. The Finance Department will monitor the correct use of the current account system. In cases where an inadequate use of current account arises, the clients will be contacted in order to discuss possible solutions to avoid a possible closure of the account itself. 9