A trademark watch is a service that monitors a trademark register for new filings that could conflict with your existing mark. For EU trademarks, that means watching EUIPO.
EUIPO processes thousands of new applications every week. Without a watch service, the only way to know about a conflicting filing is to search manually. Most brand owners do not have time for that.
A watch service scans new filings and compares them against your trademark. It looks at the name, the logo if there is one, and the goods and services classes. If a new filing is similar enough to be a potential conflict, you get an alert.
The quality of the comparison matters. A basic service might flag anything with a similar string of letters. A better service considers phonetics, visual similarity, and whether the applicant is in a related market.
Once EUIPO publishes a trademark application, there is a 90-day opposition window. After that, the window closes. If you miss it, the mark registers regardless of any conflict with yours. A watch service is only useful if it alerts you in time to act.
A few things matter: how often it scans (daily is better than weekly), what it compares (name-only or name plus logo), and how it handles false positives. A service that sends too many alerts trains you to ignore them. One that is too strict misses real threats.
For most small brand owners, the main risk is a name that sounds similar or looks similar in the same industry. Logo monitoring is a secondary concern unless your trademark is primarily visual.
Sentin scans EUIPO daily and emails you if a new filing could conflict with your trademark. Free for one trademark.
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