EU Trade Marks

What an EU trade mark gives you

An EU trade mark is a single right with equal effect throughout the European Union.¹ It gives its owner the exclusive right to stop others using an identical or confusingly similar sign for the same or similar goods and services.² It lasts ten years from the filing date and can be renewed for further ten-year periods.³

How we work

1. Clearance search. We search the EU and national registers for earlier rights that could block your mark, and tell you the level of risk before you spend on filing.

2. Specification. We draft a list of goods and services that is clear and precise, as the Regulation requires,⁴ and that reflects what you actually sell.

3. Filing. We file the application at the EUIPO, claiming priority from an earlier filing made within the last six months where one exists.⁵

4. Examination. If the EUIPO raises an objection, for example that the mark is descriptive or not distinctive,⁶ we respond on your behalf.

5. Publication and opposition period. Once published, the application is open to opposition for three months.⁷ We monitor it and advise if anything is filed.

6. Registration. If there is no opposition, or any opposition fails, the mark is registered.⁸

After registration

We docket your renewal dates and remind you of the five-year use requirement: a mark not put to genuine use in the EU within five years of registration becomes open to challenge.⁹

Already registered nationally?

If you own the same mark in an EU Member State, you can claim its seniority in your EU application and keep those rights if you later let the national mark lapse.¹⁰

Sources
1. Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR), Art. 1(2)
2. Ibid., Art. 9(1)–(2)
3. Ibid., Art. 52
4. Ibid., Art. 33(2)
5. Ibid., Art. 34(1)
6. Ibid., Art. 7(1)(b)–(c)
7. Ibid., Art. 46(1)
8. Ibid., Art. 51(1)
9. Ibid., Art. 18(1)
10. Ibid., Art. 39(1) and (3)