Trademarks

Where should I register my trademark?

Where should I register my trademark?

The trademarks are registered at the national trademark and patent offices. Each country has the national trademark office and there is no possibility to register the trademark worldwide by a single application.

The EU trademark is one of exceptions, when with a single registration a trademark is protected in more than one country . Once registered at the European Union Intellectual Property Office the trademark is valid in all EU Member States (to be more precise – in 28 countries). Other examples of regional trademark offices are the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI).

There is also a possibility to submit the International trademark application. However, it is not the international trademark registration. The trademarks are still registered at the national offices and each national office makes the examination of the mark separately. The international application only simplifies the administrative procedures and minimizes the administrative costs (comparing if you apply to each country separately), but the registration is still territorial and individual.

If you want to register a trademark, you probably should consider filing the application in the biggest markets. The biggest trademark offices in the World are:

the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – for filing international applications. Madrid international applications totaled 56,200 in 2017, the highest number ever filed and the eighth consecutive year of growth.

the EU IPO – during 2017, the Office received more than 146 000 EUTM applications, which was 8.2 % more than in the previous year. The 4.3 % increase in direct EUTM applications was accompanied by an increase of 32.4 % in international registrations designating the EU, which totalled 24 880.

the US PTO594,107 trademarks filed in 2017.

the Chinese trademark office – in 2017, the number of TM applications exhibited explosive growth, with a year-on-year growth of 55.7% and an increase of 5.748 million.

the Australian trademark office – IP Australia received 71 344 applications for trade marks in 2016.

the Indian trademark office278,170 trademarks filed in the year 2016-2017.

*Sources: WIPO Statistics Database; United States Patent and Trademark Office THE FUTURE PERFORMANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT “FY 17”, EU IPO Annual report 2017, THE OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER GENERAL OF PATENTS, DESIGNS, TRADE MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS INDIA Annual Report 2016-2017, Australian Intellectual Property Report 2017.