Trademark watch
A trademark watch monitors the registers and tells you when somebody files an application similar to your mark, while the opposition window is still open. The reviewed service costs €490 a year. A basic alerting service costs €125 a year.
Why it exists
Nobody notifies you when a competitor files a conflicting mark. EUIPO sends notification letters to owners of earlier marks it identifies in its own search, but that search is limited and the letters are easy to miss.
The opposition deadline is three months from publication in the EU and two in the UK. Miss it and the mark registers. Your remaining option is a cancellation action, which costs several times more and is harder to win.
A watch service is insurance against a deadline you would otherwise never see.
What the reviewed service covers
The 27 EU member states, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, EUIPO and WIPO.
The difference between the two tiers is not coverage, it is judgement. A raw watch generates a large volume of hits, most of which are irrelevant. At €490 a year we review the results and tell you which filings represent a genuine risk to your mark and are worth acting on.
At €125 you get the alerts and assess them yourself.
What you get when something turns up
A report naming the application, the applicant, the classes, the publication date and the opposition deadline, with our view on whether it conflicts and what we would do about it.
Most flagged filings need no action. Where one does, the options are an opposition, a cease and desist letter, or a negotiated coexistence agreement limiting the other side's goods.
Who should have one
Anyone whose brand is the main asset of the business. If losing the exclusive right to your name would materially damage you, €490 a year is cheap against the cost of a cancellation action or a rebrand.
If you have one registration in one class for a small local business, it is probably not worth it.
Domains as well as trademarks
A trademark watch covers trademark registers. It does not cover domain registrations. Someone can register a domain matching your brand without ever filing a trademark, and the remedy there is a UDRP complaint rather than an opposition.