Frequently asked questions:

  1. What is a European Community Trademark?
    A European Community Trademark is a trademark valid in all member states of the European Union. There is only a single application and registration procedure at the Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market in Alicante/Spain.
  2. Can our company name be protected as a European Community Trademark?
    Yes, as long as it is not descriptive for the goods or services which shall be protected by the trademark.
  3. In what forms can a trademark be registered?
    A European Community Trademark can be registered as a word, or a design or a combination of both, or as a colour or as a hearing trademark.
  4. Must I have a European Community Trademark when selling products or offering services in the European Union?
    No, but you should at least check if there is already an identical or similar trademark in the European Union, because this consists the danger of getting into a litigation with the owner of such a trademark who could charge you with stopping to use his trademark in the European Union or in one Member State. If you do not register for a trademark and someone else does it, he might stop you from using the trademark successfully, although you have sold products or offered services in the European Union for many years. This would mean for you that you could loose a litigation and would have to rename your whole product including packaging and broschures, etc. Compared to that scenario the costs of an application for an application of a trademark are small.
  5. How can I be sure that there is no such earlier trademark?
    A search can be done for earlier trademarks in special databases which reduces the risk significantly, although a guarantee cannot be given due to the manual search and applications that have not been entered into the database because they have not been published yet.
  6. If I have received a trademark, does is live forever?
    There can be an invalidity procedure by a third party because there is someone having earlier rights, although the opposition period of three months is over and no opposition was lodged. This nullification procedure can also be started if you have obtained a trademark and this trademark is not used within 5 years of the registration. If a trademark is registered, is has to be renewed after ten years after the application date.
  7. Can a trademark be applied without a search for identical or similar trademarks?
    Yes, a search is not compulsory, but highly recommendable because there might be an earlier trademark in the European Union giving the owner the right to exclude you from registrating an identical or similar trademark.
  8. Must I put a sign ® behind the trademark?
    No, this is not compulsory, but you may do so as it shows competitors that you have registered a European trademark.
  9. What does management of trademarks mean?
    Management of trademarks means that we care for the maintaining of your trademarks in the European Union. We watch for the renewal fee to be paid and inform you in time. We go through your trademark portfolio together with your marketing people and look for trademarks no longer used by your company. If desired, we look for a buyer or a licensee of your trademarks. We also monitor the trademark registers look for identical or similar trademarks that might be a danger to the unique position of your trademark. If desired, our legal service starts a litigation against these latter trademarks.