When EUIPO publishes a new trademark application, owners of earlier marks have exactly 90 days to file a formal opposition. This is the EU trademark opposition deadline. It is fixed and non-extendable. Once it passes, the application moves toward registration unless the applicant withdraws it voluntarily.
The clock starts from the date of publication in the EU Trade Marks Bulletin, not from the date you become aware of the filing. If a conflicting mark is published on 1 March, your opposition deadline is 30 May, regardless of when you find out about it.
This is why monitoring matters. Finding a conflict on day 85 leaves you five days to assess, consult a lawyer, prepare the opposition notice, and submit it correctly. Finding it on day 1 gives you the full 90.
Missing the opposition deadline does not mean your rights disappear, but your options narrow significantly. You can still apply for cancellation of the registered mark on absolute grounds, or pursue an invalidity action, but these procedures are longer, more expensive, and less certain than a timely opposition.
In some cases, a registered conflicting mark creates market confusion that is expensive to untangle even with legal action. Early opposition is almost always the faster and cheaper route.
The only reliable way is automated EUIPO monitoring. A trademark alert service scans new publications every day and notifies you immediately when a potentially conflicting filing appears. The alert includes the publication date and the opposition deadline so you know exactly how much time you have.
Sentin does this every morning. When a conflicting filing appears, the alert email shows the filing details, a similarity score, and a countdown to your opposition deadline.
Never miss a trademark opposition deadline. Sentin monitors EUIPO daily and alerts you the moment a conflicting filing is published.
Start monitoring free →See also: What is a trademark alert? · Automatic trademark alerts