Trademark glossary.

European Union Trade Mark, formerly Community Trade Mark. EUIPO right with unitary effect across all 27 EU member states. Term ten years, indefinitely renewable. Source: EU Trade Mark Regulation (EU) 2017/1001.

International classification system for goods and services. 34 goods classes (1–34) and 11 service classes (35–45). Maintained by WIPO, current edition NCL-12-2024. Source: WIPO Nice Agreement (1957).

European Union Intellectual Property Office, headquartered in Alicante. Responsible for EUTMs and Community Designs. Operating since 1996, known as OHIM until 2016. Source: euipo.europa.eu.

German Patent and Trade Mark Office, headquartered in Munich, branches in Jena and Berlin. Responsible for German national marks (DE marks), patents, utility models, designs. Source: dpma.de.

Trademark register of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI), Bern. Protection extends to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Source: swissreg.ch.

United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office, headquartered in Newport. Responsible for UK trade marks since the EU split on 1 January 2021. Source: gov.uk/ipo.

World Intellectual Property Organization, UN specialised agency in Geneva. Administers the Madrid System, the Nice Classification and the Vienna Classification. Source: wipo.int.

International treaty (1989) for trademark registration via WIPO. A single application yields protection in over 130 contracting parties. Requires a basic mark in the home jurisdiction. Source: WIPO, Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement.

Procedure before a trademark office in which holders of earlier rights challenge the registration of a later mark. EUIPO deadline: three months from publication of the application in the EUTM Bulletin. Source: Art. 46 EU TMR.

Risk that the relevant public will associate a later mark with an earlier one. Assessed via sign similarity, goods/services similarity and distinctiveness of the earlier mark. Source: Art. 8(1)(b) EU TMR; CJEU case law.

Filing a trademark with intent to obstruct or harm third parties. Absolute ground for invalidity, available even after registration. Source: Art. 59(1)(b) EU TMR.

Loss of a registered mark for non-use over five years, becoming a generic term, or misleading the public. Source: Art. 58 EU TMR.

Retroactive cancellation of a trademark registration due to absolute grounds or earlier third-party rights. Source: Art. 59–60 EU TMR.

Reasons a trademark office refuses an application. Absolute (e.g. lack of distinctiveness, descriptiveness, public policy) or relative (earlier third-party rights). Source: Art. 7–8 EU TMR.

Mark consisting solely of letters, numbers or standard characters. Protects the word as such, in any typeface or formatting. Source: EUIPO mark types.

Mark consisting of a graphic representation without word elements. Source: EUIPO mark types.

Mark combining word and figurative elements. The protected scope is the specific composition, not the word in isolation. Source: EUIPO mark types.

Mark consisting of an acoustic sign — melody, sound or voice. Filed with an MP3 file plus optional notation. Source: Art. 4 EU TMR; EUIPO mark types.

Mark defined by a specific placement on a product (e.g. a coloured stripe at a fixed position on the item). Source: EUIPO mark types.

Legacy term for the EU trademark before the 2016 reform (Regulation 2015/2424). Today known as „EU trade mark" or „EUTM". Still appears in older contracts and licences. Source: EU reform package 2015/2436.