European Union Trademark

Protect your brand, logo or slogan by registering a European Union Trademark. Based on this registration you will be able to take action against third parties who use a similar or identical trademark without your permission. The protection scope of a European Union trademark registration will extend to all countries of the European Union. It takes approximately 7 months, counted from the application date to obtain a European Union trademark registration. A European Union trademark registration is valid for 10 years.

European Union Trademark countries

As the name implies, the European Union Trademark applies to all countries within the European Union. A prior application or registration in the home country of the applicant is not required. In addition, the home country of the applicant does not have to be a member of the European Union either.

Members of the European Union are:

Austria	Germany	Netherlands
Belgium	Greece	Poland
Bulgaria	Hungary	Portugal
Cyprus	Ireland	Romania
Czech Republic	Italy	Slovakia
Denmark	Latvia	Slovenia
Estonia	Lithuania	Spain
Finland	Luxembourg	Sweden
France	Malta	United Kingdom

A European Union trademark registration is valid in the following overseas departments as well: Guadeloupe (GP), Martinique (MQ), Guyana (GF), and Réunion (RE).

Based on your European Union trademark registration you will be able to act against trademark infringers in all 27member of the European Union.

What is a trademark

A trademark is a symbol, design, word or any other device that identifies and distinguishes products and services in the marketplace. Your trademark can become your company’s most valuable asset. Consumers will identify your firm with your chosen trademark. Insufficient protection of this trademark in the European Union can have major consequences for your company.

A European Trademark ensures exclusive rights to a specific brand for the covered goods and services . One can also authorize someone else to use the trademark in return for payment.

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What kinds of trademarks can be registered

Anything that distinguishes your product and is capable of graphic representation can be registered as a trademark. A few examples are:

A word
Slogans
Colours
Shapes
Sounds
Abbrevations/Initials
Logo’s

To protect your business in the best way possible, you should consider registering more than one trademark. For instance, you can register your company name and specific product name or logo as trademark trademark on your company’s slogan and its logo. Our trademark attorneys will gladly advise you about all options that may be relevant for your company and its potential trademarks.

EU trademark requirements

A trademark application has to be filed at the European Union Intellectual Property office (EUIPO). A simple signed power of attorney is required. Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration.

The procedure for registering your European Trademark

The application process includes an official search for identical or similar trademarks. It takes approximately 7 months from first filing to registration. The trademark is published in the “Trademarks Bulletin” before registration. It is possible to file an opposition against the trademark registration at a court within 3 months from the date of publication.

A trademark registration in the European Union is valid for 10 years and starts at the day of registration. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.

Classes in a European Union Trademark

When you apply for a an European Union Trademark registration, you have to specify the classes for which your trademark will be registered for. Classes are the products and services that will be associated with your trademark. The International Classification of Nice is the system that is in place for grouping products and services. This system uses 45 classes, 34 for products and 11 for services. The European Union Trademark only offers protection within the chosen classes at the time of registration. This allows two identical trademarks to coexist in different classes. Before filing the trademark application we will assist you in determining the correct classes for your trademark application.

Where to register a European Trademark

In general, a trademark has to be registered in each individual country where you want the trademark protection to apply. However, some regions have signed treaties to make it possible to register a trademark in multiple countries at once. The European Union has one of these treaties in place. The European Trademark applies to all countries within the European Union.

European Trademarks are registered at the EUIPO. As stated before, this office will not actively check for existing trademarks when someone tries to register its European Union Trademark.

Community trademark

Until the 233rd of March 2016, the European Union Trademark was known as the Community Trade Mark (CTM Trademark). This trademark was first introduced in 1994 and the first applications were filed on the 1st of April 1996. The Community Trademark was administered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Mark (OHIM). The OHIM changed its name to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPIO) when the name of the Community Trademark changed to European Union Trademark.

I’ve chosen Trademarkhost as our worldwide trademark representative because they always gave me immediate and professional response with regard to all my questions.
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European Union Trademark