You can register an EU trademark without a lawyer. You file online with the EUIPO, the EU’s trademark office, pay the fee and wait. If nobody objects, it takes about four to five months from filing to registration.
This guide goes through the steps in order, with the fees. One registration covers all 27 member states.
If someone files an opposition, the process takes longer. How much longer depends on the case.
Before you file, look for earlier marks that are close to the name you want. If someone already holds a close name in your field, they can object once your application is published, and you will have paid the fee for nothing.
The EUIPO’s own search tool, eSearch plus, and TMview are both free to use. Search the exact name, other spellings of it and names that sound like it. Sentin’s free similarity check shows recent EU filings that are close to a name, which is a quick first look.
A trademark is filed for specific goods and services, grouped into classes. The Nice classification has 45 of them: classes 1 to 34 are goods, and classes 35 to 45 are services. Clothing is class 25, for example, software is class 9, and education and entertainment are class 41.
Pick the classes that match what you sell or offer. Each one adds to the fee, and a class you do not use is money spent. Describe your goods and services in plain, specific words.
You file on the EUIPO’s website, at https://www.euipo.europa.eu. You will need the name or logo, your details as the applicant and the list of goods and services for each class.
Have these ready before you start:
The fees for filing online are:
So a mark in three classes costs €850 + €50 + €150 = €1,050.
After you file, the EUIPO examines the application. This takes about a month. If it has questions, it writes to you, and you answer them.
If the application passes, the EUIPO publishes it. Publication is the moment other owners can see it, and it starts the opposition window.
For three months from publication, anyone with an earlier right can file an opposition. The period is set by Article 46 of the EU Trade Mark Regulation and cannot be extended. More on how it works is on the EUIPO’s opposition page: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/trade-marks/after-applying/opposition.
If nobody objects, your application moves on. If someone does, you will hear from the EUIPO. At that point most owners talk to a trademark attorney.
If the window closes without an opposition, your mark is registered. From filing to registration, that is about 4 to 5 months: about a month of examination, then publication, then the three months of the opposition window.
No. You can file on your own, and this guide is written for that. Some owners do it all themselves. Others use a trademark attorney for the wording of the goods and services, or only if someone objects.
The cheapest mistakes to avoid are in steps 1 and 2: a name that is too close to an earlier mark, and classes you do not need.
A registration at the EUIPO covers the 27 member states of the European Union in one go. National registers, such as the Benelux office (BOIP), are separate. A national filing covers its own territory only.
Registering your mark does not mean the register watches it for you. The EUIPO does not refuse a new application because it looks like your mark. That is up to you, through an opposition, within three months of publication.
So someone has to look at new filings. You can search the register yourself every week, or you can let Sentin do it. Sentin checks the EUIPO register every morning and emails you when a new filing looks close to your mark, with the deadline to object. Read more about trademark alerts for Europe and what Sentin watches.
It is free for 30 days, with no card, and it stops by itself. After that it is €120 a year, or €15 a month, for two marks. If it is not for you, you get your first payment back within 14 days.
Registered your mark, or about to? Let Sentin watch the EU register for you.
Start free for 30 days →This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a mark that matters a lot to your business, talk to a trademark attorney.
Sentin is not part of the EUIPO.