A European Union Trade Mark registration allows you to protect your mark across the European Union through a single application process.

 

The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will examine your trade mark application and consider whether your mark is inherently registrable. For example, they will raise objections if they consider that your mark is descriptive of the goods/services for which you are seeking registration. We will be given an opportunity to overcome any objections raised by filing a response to the examination report. The EUIPO will also search the EU Trade Marks Register and some national trade mark registers (if asked to do so) to identify earlier conflicting trade mark registrations.

 

The EUIPO will not refuse registration of your trade mark based on any conflicting registrations, but the owners of earlier conflicting EU Trade Mark registrations will be notified and given the opportunity to oppose your trade mark application. It is possible to oppose registration of a trade mark for a period of three months following publication of the trade mark. Owners of earlier national registrations are not notified in this way.

 

If no objections are raised your application will be accepted for publication and shortly after it will proceed to registration. If no oppositions are filed, or if they are successfully overcome, your EU Trade Mark will be registered. The registration is valid across all EU countries and needs to be renewed every ten years. We will monitor renewal deadlines and keep you informed.