30.4.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 109/3 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 355/2009 of 31 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (') and in particular Articles 139 and 157 thereof, Whereas: Article 139(2) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 lays down that the amounts of the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, hereinafter ‘the Office’, are to be fixed at such a level as to ensure that the revenue in respect thereof is sufficient to ensure that its budget is balanced. The Office is generating substantial cash reserves. A further increase in the revenue of the Office and, as a consequence, budgetary surplus of the Office is expected. This is in particular the result of the payment of appli- cation and registration fees for Community trade marks. A reduction in fees would therefore be one of the measures for ensuring that the budget is balanced, while fostering access to the Community trade mark system for users. In order to reduce the administrative burden on both the users and the Office the fee structure should be simplified by fixing the amount of the registration fee for a Community trade mark at zero. Hence, only the payment of the application fee will be required and the processing time for the registration can be considerably reduced if no registration fee has to be paid before regis- tering a Community trade mark. In relation to international registrations designating the European Community the fixing of the amount of the registration fee for a Community trade mark at zero implies that the amount of the fee to be refunded pursuant to Article 149(4) or Article 151(4) of Regu- lation (EC) No 40/94 has to be set to zero as well. () OJ L 11, 14.1.1994, p. 1. (6) ) The reduction in fees should ensure a proper balance between the Community and national trade mark systems, taking into account the future development of the relations between the Office and industrial property offices of Member States, including the remuneration for services rendered by the offices of Member States. Commission  Regulation (EC) No  2869/95 of 13 December 1995 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) () and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 of 13 December 1995 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark (%) should therefore be amended accordingly. A transitional provision is required to ensure legal certainty while providing maximum benefit to both the users and the Office. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Fees, Implementation Rules and the Procedure of the Boards of Appeal of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 is hereby amended as follows: 1. The table in Article 2 is amended as follows: ) C) (a) point 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Basic fee for the application for an 1050° individual mark (Article 26(2), Rule 4(a) (b) point 1b is replaced by the following: ‘1b. Basic fee for the application for an 900’ O] 0] individual mark by electronic means (Article 26(2), Rule 4(a)) L 303, 15.12.1995, p. 33. L 303, 15.12.1995, p. 1.