Each EU member state has its own intellectual property office, but the EUIPO is currently becoming increasingly important as a trademark and design register for all EU member states. For a set fee, you can apply to the EUIPO to register your trademark, which grants you exclusive rights and legal protection against infringement in the EU internal market. The EUIPO facilitated the registration of almost 120,000 trademarks last year and played a crucial role in harmonizing national trademark systems.

Trademark registration in the EU
The company that registers a trademark receives an exclusive right of use and legal protection. This allows the brand itself to gain value, which can grow over time depending on the value and reputation of the brand. The trademark owner can prevent the use of a similar trademark for a similar business purpose if unauthorized third parties make such an attempt. Therefore, registering a trademark is very handy when you want to prevent a competitor from using a similar mark to identify their products or services.

The trademark owner has the right to use the well-known symbol ®, which clarifies that no other company can use this trademark as it is already registered and legally protected.

Registering a trademark also gives you the opportunity to enter into franchising agreements, giving you a share in the use of the trademark by the contractors. In this way, the formation of a chain becomes possible.

However, registration may be rejected if it does not meet certain requirements. In particular, the requirement of distinctiveness means that, for example, words that describe a company's goods or services are too general, which means that they cannot be registered as a trade mark.