BRUSSELS (AFP) -- EU member states ordered on Monday a reduction in the fees which companies are charged to register trademarks across the 27-nation European Union.

EU industry ministers meeting in Brussels asked the European Commission to come up with a proposal on the future level of fees charged by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, based in Alicante, southern Spain.

Since 1996, companies have been able to register to get trademarks protected with the OHIM, which is financed entirely with its fee revenues.

The process currently costs around 2,000 euros (2,700 dollars) for filing and registering.

"In the future, it will be possible to register trademarks and designs through OHIM at significantly lower cost," said German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"This helps all those who wish to protect their rights against unauthorized counterfeiting, not only within their own countries but also throughout all of Europe," she added.

Hailing the EU trademark system as a "success story", Zypries said that the agency handled enough registrations that lower fee revenues would not hamper its work, noting that 77,500 trademarks were registered last year alone.

"The use of the system has far exceeded expectations, which has led to a substantial revenue surplus," Zypries said. "We will now distribute this surplus to users of the system," she added.