Register your trademark in the EU and the UK

What a trademark registration gives you

A registered trademark is the right to stop other people using your name, or a confusingly similar one, for the goods and services you registered it for. It lasts ten years and renews indefinitely.

Without it you have very little. An unregistered name can be defended in some countries if you can prove reputation, which is slow and expensive to evidence. A company registration does not protect the name. Neither does owning the domain.

Should you file in the EU or the UK?

One EU trademark covers all 27 member states in a single filing. Since Brexit it no longer covers the United Kingdom, so a business selling into both needs two registrations.

If you trade in one EU country only and have no plans beyond it, a national filing is cheaper. Bulgaria is €435 for three classes against €1,950 for the EU. The EU filing is usually still the better value once you are selling across borders.

What happens after you file

EUIPO examines the application on absolute grounds, meaning whether the mark is capable of functioning as a trademark at all. It then publishes the application for a three-month opposition period, during which owners of earlier rights can object. If nobody does, the mark registers.

EUIPO does not refuse your application because an earlier similar mark exists. It sends the owners of those marks a notification and leaves it to them to oppose. This is why a clearance search before filing matters more than people expect.

Why work with us

Gergana Dimitrova holds the Magister Lvcentinvs LL.M. in intellectual property from the University of Alicante and spent four years at ELZABURU in Madrid and Beijing acting for multinational and Fortune 500 clients. She worked on EUIPO's Convergence Programme, which harmonises examination practice across national offices in the EU, and is an IP Scan Expert for the Bulgarian Patent Office under the EUIPO SME Fund.