A trademark registration in Europe, more precisely a EU trademark registration or the registration of a European Union trademark (formerly known as Community trademark), is a good and relatively inexpensive option to reach protection in the European Union compared to separate national trademark applications (e.g. in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Italy and further member states).
If you ask yourself how to get a trademark registration in Europe or how to get a registered EU trade mark in the European Union, please read the below information:
What is a European Union Trademark?
A European Union Trademark is more or less a special trademark covering all member states of the European Union with a single application or registration. Other than a national trademark registration in only one country a European Union or EU trademark is therefore valid in countries such as Germany, France, Austria, Spain, Poland etc. However, non-EU countries like Switzerland are not covered by such a trademark.
What is the responsible office for a European Union Trademark (formerly: Community trademark) or a trademark registration in the EU (Europe)?
Applications for European Union Trademarks have to be submitted to the “European Trademark Office” – official name: European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) – in Alicante. The EUIPO is not only responsible for checking the EU trademark application for missing information or absolute grounds of refusal (and makes provisional refusals in this matter) and to decide in trademark opposition cases in the European Union but also for issuing the registration certificate.
How much is a EU trademark application and what are the costs of a European Union trademark?
The costs of a EU or Union trademark application primarily depend on its extent, being the scope of protection (number of classes of goods and services according to the Nice classification).
At the EUIPO the basic fee for a trademark application only covers one class for an official fee of 850 € for an electronic application. For each additional class further official fees of 50 € for the second and 150 € for each further class have to be paid.
If you entrust us as a patent attorney or trademark lawyer to handle the EU trademark application and assist you to get a trademarkregistration in the European Union, we offer our services including the correspondence with the trademark office and the client dependent on the expected work and the existing basis for an affordable flat fee for this service. Feel free to contact us if you need further information.
What is the procedure when entrusting our IP Law Firm and how long does a EU trademark registration in the European Union take?
If you send us the trademark to be registered and give us the necessary information like the kind of trademark e.g. device mark, wordmark or word and device markas well as the details of the applicant like the name and address and provide us the list of goods and services in English or German we are able to make a general trademark search for potentially conflicting wordmarks in the European trademark register. Furthermore, we will send you a summary of the result of the EU trademark search and of the intended application. Before that we adjust and coordinate the list of goods and services with you if necessary.
After you confirm the summary we will file the application at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) through our electronic access and pay the official fees for the trademark application.
As a next step an examiner of the European Trademark Office checks the application for absolute grounds for refusal (like descriptiveness) and publishes the trademark. After that third parties have the possibility to file an opposition e.g. based on earlier trademarks within three months after the publication.
If there is no opposition (or the opposition proceeding is successfully overcome) the EUIPO registers the trademark in the European Union trademark register (“European trademark database”), issues an electronic trademark certificate and sends a respective notification to the applicant or its representative. The timeframe between application and registration of a trademark in the European Union (EU) in a smooth case (e.g. if the trademark application qualifies for the so called fast-track procedure and no opposition is filed) can be less than four months.
What is the protection period of a EU trademark registration?
If a trademark registration in the European Union is successful and the trademark is registered and not deleted by the owner nor attacked by a third party (e.g. through an opposition) it is valid for ten years after the application without further costs until the next renewal.
Our services to get a trademark registration in the European Union (EU) (so called Union trademark):
- EU trademark search / European trademark search (e.g. basic search for identical wordmarks and/or detailed research in the German trademark register)
- Assistance and consulting to find best kind of trademark (e.g. wordmark, word and device mark, device mark etc.) to prevent potential refusals and to increase the scope of protection
- Work out a list of goods and services (based on Nice classifications) to fit the applicant’s needs
- Filing service
- Claiming priority
- Correspondence with European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
- Opposition proceedings
- and similar matters
The specialized team of our Intellectual Property (IP) Law Firm with a European Patent, Trademark and Design Attorney and a German Certified Intellectual Property (IP) Lawyer offers a full range of intellectual property services in Europe. Our services not only include trademark applications and registrations but also assistance in (alleged) trademark violations or trademark infringements.
Please contact us via email if you require a tailormade offer or if you need further information.