What is the procedure for applying for an EU trademark?

1. Submit a trademark application.

Filing directly with the EUIPO is divided into ** applications and paper applications, ** the application fee is lower and only one language is required. The EUIPO also has a fast-track filing channel, which allows the EUIPO to expedite the examination process and publish the application for registration as soon as possible.

2. Trademark examination.

Upon receipt of the application, the EUIPO will conduct an examination and notify the applicant to correct the problem within 2 months. If it fails to do so within the prescribed time, the EUIPO will reject the application or claim in whole or in part.

Decisions of the EUIPO may be appealed to the Appeal Board within the EUIPO, to the General Court of the European Union, and to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

However, the EUIPO does not take the initiative to examine whether there is a prior right when examining the trademark registration application, and the prior right holder can protect its rights through procedures such as opposition and request for invalidation.

3. Disclosure of applications and objections.

If there is no problem with the examination by the EUIPO, the application for registration will be published in the EU Trademark Gazette.

Any person who believes that the trademark applied for registration infringes his prior rights may file an opposition within 3 months after the publication of the application, and the EUIPO will organize the proceedings between the parties and make a final decision. If you are not satisfied with the final decision of the EUIPO, you can appeal by following the steps in the previous paragraph. Any person who believes that the trademark applied for registration does not meet the conditions for trademark registration can submit an opinion to the EUIPO, and the submission of comments is free of charge, and the EUIPO will inform the applicant and consider it.

4. Registration and disclosure.

If no objection or opinion is filed within the prescribed time, or if the objection or opinion is not substantiated, the EUIPO will register it, publish it in the EU Trademark Gazette and issue an electronic registration certificate.

How to handle the EU trademark registration application, now with the development of the global economic wave, the overseas market is an unprecedented challenge for Chinese enterprises, but also a huge market, the window of the world has been opened to us, the market is changing internationally, in order to expand the international market, international trademark registration applications are becoming more and more popular and common, so how to handle the EU trademark registration application?

How to apply for EU trademark registration?

1. Submit an application for EU trademark registration.

**Filing an application for trademark registration in the EU is less expensive and requires only one language. In addition, the EUIPO also has a fast-track filing channel, which can speed up the examination process of the EUIPO and publish the EU trademark registration application as soon as possible.

2. The European Union Intellectual Property Office examines the marking.

Once the EUIPO has received the application, the EUIPO will proceed with the examination process and, if a problem is found, notify the applicant of the trademark to make the amendment within 2 months. If the amendment is not made within the prescribed time, the EUIPO will reject the application or claim in whole or in part.

3. EU trademark disclosure opposition period.

If the EUIPO examines the mark application and finds that there are relevant problems, the EUIPO publishes the trademark registration application in the EU Trademark Gazette, so that it enters the public opposition period of the EU trademark application, which lasts for 3 months, and any third party can file an EU trademark opposition within three months.

4. EU trademark registration and disclosure.

If the EU does not receive any objections or comments within the prescribed period of three months, or if the objections or opinions are not sustained, the EUIP Office will register the trademark application and publish the EU trademark electronic registration certificate in the EU Trademark Gazette. Within 5 years after the registration of a trademark in the EU, the right holder must use it, otherwise anyone has the right to apply for cancellation of registration of the trademark for non-use.

The registration procedure of an EU trademark can be roughly divided into four stages: submission, examination, publication of opposition, and registration. In the absence of any objection to the total time required from the filing of the application to the registration4-7 months

1.Information required for trademark registration

1) Information of the applicant in English and Chinese, including name and address;

2) Trademark drawings or text samples;

3) the name and category of goods and services;

4) Power of attorney.

2.The registration process and the time required

Submission stage(Receipt will be issued within 1-3 days).

A notice of receipt containing information such as the application number can be obtained from the EUIPO immediately after submission.

Review stage(3-6 months).

According to EU trademark law, the EUIPO only conducts an absolute ground examination after receiving the application, mainly to check whether the trademark is distinctive, and whether it violates the prohibition clause. A trademark application will not be rejected because the trademark is identical or similar to the earlier application. This is mainly left to the prior right holder to decide whether or not to file an opposition to the EU application.

Announcement Opposition Stage(3 months).

If no problems are found in the examination or the problems found have been corrected, the trademark application will be published. Within three months of publication, any interested party or prior right holder may file an opposition with the EUIPO.

Registration Phase

If there is no objection or the opposition is not established during the EU trademark publication period, the EUIPO will arrange for the registration announcement and issue the registration certificate. It is important to note that the EUIPO currently only issues electronic certificates of registration.

3.Problems that need to be paid attention to after trademark registration

Submit a declaration of continued use of the trademark, valid for 10 years after the registration of the EU trademark, and the validity period is calculated from the filing date; The renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years.

Once the EU trademark is successfully registered, it will automatically take effect in the EU member states. List of the 26 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria.

1. The applicant submits an application to the European Union Trademark Office or the trademark office of the EU member state;

2. The European Union Trademark Office notifies the application to the trademark office of each member state for trademark examination in each country;

3. After the review is passed, the announcement will be made for three months. During this period, a third party may raise various objections;

4. If there is no opposition from a third party, the trademark applied for will be approved for registration within one year;

5. It takes 12-15 months.

1.Formal examination

After the application is submitted, the legality review of the submitted application documents, trademark drawings, power of attorney and other documents; If the requirements are met, the filing date and application number will be granted.

2.Search the report

The Office of Internal Cooperation conducts its own search and issues a search report on the previously registered or applied for the European Community trademark, and at the same time, the trademark offices of other European Community Member States except France, Germany and Italy conduct a search and issue a search report. The applicant will receive the above-mentioned search report before the trademark is approved for publication and decide whether to arrange for the trademark publication.

3.Substantive examination

When examining a trademark application in the European Community, the Office of Internal Coordination only examines its registrability (i.e. distinctiveness), also known as absolute grounds, and does not examine relative grounds, i.e., it does not cite prior rights to reject the application.

4.Announcements

After examination, the examiner finds that the trademark application is acceptable, it will be published in the Official Trademark Gazette of the European Union. The opposition period is 3 months from the date of announcement.

5.Registration Approval

Trademarks that have been ruled to be registrable after opposition, or trademarks that have been published without opposition, will be approved for registration and a registration certificate will be issued. The entire smooth application process (if there is no rejection, opposition, etc.) takes about 6-8 months.

1. Submit the application to the Office for Harmonization in the European Internal Market, and the authority will accept the trademark application that it considers to be eligible, and give the filing date and application number;

2. After acceptance, the authority conducts a search of the prior trademark, and at the same time submits the application to each member state for the search of the prior trademark, and each member state sends the search report to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market within 3 months;

3. Upon receipt of the search reports of the Member States, the authorities shall provide them to the applicant for reference together with the search reports of the Office;

4. The authorities do not conduct substantive examination of the applied trademark, if the application is preliminarily accepted for registration, that is, the publication, from the date of publication of 3 months as the opposition period, 25 member countries of any natural person or legal person has the right to raise an objection to the trademark, no objection or the objection is not established, the trademark is registered;

5. If the trademark applied for registration by the applicant is rejected (including the rejection of the Community trademark application due to opposition raised by a member state), the applicant can convert the EU trademark into a separate trademark application in one or several countries within three months, and the original filing date and priority date are equally enjoyed.

6. If the applicant's trademark application for registration is rejected and the applicant is not satisfied, he can apply to the EU Trademark Reexamination Board for review, and if there is reason to believe that the review decision of the EU Trademark Reexamination Board violates the Rome Treaty or the Community Trademark Regulation, he can also appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Submission of application - review period - announcement period - registration.

Statute of limitations for EU trademark registration: generally 6-9 months.

The examination period of the EU trademark application is one week after the filing of the application, and the announcement period is 4 months after the completion of the examination, and the registration date will be registered about one week after the end of the announcement period.

The process of registering a trademark in the European Union:

1. The applicant submits an application to the European Union Trademark Office or the trademark office of the EU member state;

2. The European Union Trademark Office notifies the application to the trademark office of each member state for trademark examination in each country;

3. After the review is passed, the announcement will be made for three months. During this period, a third party may raise various objections;

4. If there is no opposition from a third party, the trademark applied for will be approved for registration within one year;

5. It takes 18-24 months.

6. The application is valid for 10 years.

1. Submit the application to the Office for Harmonization in the European Internal Market, and the authority will accept the trademark application that it considers to be eligible, and give the filing date and application number;

2. After acceptance, the authorities conduct a prior trademark search, and at the same time submit the application to each member state for a prior trademark search, and each member state shall send the search report to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market within 3 months.

3. Upon receipt of the search reports of the Member States, the authorities shall provide them to the applicant for reference together with the search reports of the Office;

4. The authorities do not conduct a substantive examination of the applied trademark, if the application is preliminarily accepted for registration, that is, it is announced, and the opposition period is 3 months from the date of announcement, and any person or legal person in the 25 member countries has the right to raise an objection to the trademark, and if there is no objection or the objection is not established, the trademark shall be registered.

5. If the trademark applied for registration by the EU trademark applicant is rejected (including the rejection of the Community trademark application due to opposition raised by a member state), the applicant can convert the EU trademark into a separate trademark application in one or several countries within three months, and the original filing date and priority date are equally enjoyed.

6. If the applicant's application for registration of the trademark is rejected and the applicant is not satisfied, he can apply to the EU Trademark Reexamination Board for review, and if there is reason to believe that the review decision of the EU Trademark Reexamination Board violates the Rome Treaty or the Community Trademark Regulations, he can also appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

1. Submit the application to the Office for Harmonization in the European Internal Market, and the authority will accept the trademark application that it considers to be eligible, and give the filing date and application number;

2. After acceptance, the authority conducts a search of the prior trademark, and at the same time submits the application to each member state for the search of the prior trademark, and each member state sends the search report to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market within 3 months;

3. Upon receipt of the search reports of the Member States, the authorities shall provide them to the applicant for reference together with the search reports of the Office;

4. The authorities do not conduct a substantive examination of the applied trademark, if the application is preliminarily accepted for registration, that is, the publication, the opposition period is 3 months from the date of announcement, and any person or legal person in the 25 member countries has the right to raise an objection to the trademark, and if there is no objection or the objection is not established, the trademark shall be registered;

5. If the trademark applied for registration by the applicant is rejected (including the rejection of the Community trademark application due to opposition raised by a member state), the applicant can convert the EU trademark into a separate trademark application in one or several countries within three months, and the original filing date and priority date are equally enjoyed.

6. If the applicant's trademark application for registration is rejected and the applicant is not satisfied, he can apply to the EU Trademark Reexamination Board for review, and if there is reason to believe that the decision of the EU Trademark Reexamination Board violates the Rome Treaty or the Community Trademark Regulations, he can also appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

1. The enterprise applicant can apply to the European Union Trademark Office or the trademark office of each member country.

2. The applicant shall submit a sample of the trademark so that the Trademark Office can enter the examination of the Trademark Office.

3. During the three-month announcement period, after the tea is passed, the third party can raise objections during this period.

4. When the opposition period is up, the trademark letter of the application for the remaining notice will be successfully registered within one and a half years.