European Trade Mark Application

Trade Mark Registration in the European Community

The European Trade Mark, established in 1994, gives the applicant a right that is valid with unitary character in all member states of the European Union. The European Trade Mark is acquired, by means of a single procedure, by registration in the register kept by the EUIPO located in Alicante, Spain. The European Trade Mark may be registered, transferred or cancelled, with effects relating to the entire territory of the European Union.

The Community trade mark application professionals at Invention, a point of reference in Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto and Marche, are available for detailed advice on the subject: call to speak to the experts.

Registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and is renewable indefinitely. The registration procedure provides that, following the filing of the application for registration with the EUIPO, the latter and the National Offices (with the exception of some countries) carry out a prior art search among Community and national trade marks respectively.

The search report is sent to the Applicant who, on the basis of it, can decide whether to limit the application (in relation to the goods and/or services) or withdraw it.

Subsequently, the European Trade Mark is published in the Official Journal of the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) in such a way as to allow third parties to file Oppositions to the Registration, within a period of three months, on the basis of earlier Community trade mark and/or national trade mark rights.

If no Oppositions are filed within the three months following publication, the EUIPO proceeds to register the European Trade Mark ex officio upon payment of the corresponding registration fee.