How to Register a Trademark in the EU (EUIPO)

If your brand sells, ships, or markets into Europe, one of the best deals in trademark law is the European Union Trade Mark. Instead of filing — and paying — in country after country, you file once and get protection across the entire EU. But the system has a distinctive structure that rewards understanding before you file. This guide explains, in plain English, what an EUTM is, how its “unitary” nature helps and occasionally hurts, how to file it, and how the post-Brexit UK gap changes your strategy.

For the bigger picture of protecting a brand across borders, start with our International IP pillar.

What an EU Trade Mark (EUTM) actually is

An EU Trade Mark (EUTM) is a single trademark registration that covers all 27 member states of the European Union at once. It is granted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), headquartered in Alicante, Spain. (You may still see the old name “Community Trade Mark” or CTM in older articles — that term was retired in 2016.)

The appeal is simple. Without the EUTM, protecting a brand across Europe would mean filing a separate national application in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and so on — each with its own forms, fees, languages, and rules. The EUTM collapses all of that into one application, one fee, one examination, and one registration certificate covering every EU country.

A few practical points:

• The EUTM covers the EU’s 27 members — and only those. It is tied to EU membership, so if the EU adds a country in the future, existing EUTMs automatically extend to cover it.
• It protects the usual range of marks: brand names, logos, slogans, and other distinctive signs used to identify the source of goods or services.
• You do not need to be based in the EU to own one. Businesses anywhere in the world can file, although non-EU applicants generally must appoint a qualified EU representative to act before the EUIPO.

The unitary right: the big benefit and the real risk

The defining feature of an EUTM is that it is a unitary right — a single, indivisible registration. You cannot own it in some EU countries but not others; it stands or falls as one piece across all 27.

The benefit is efficiency and economy. One filing, one renewal date, one registration to manage and license. For a brand that wants broad European coverage, this is dramatically cheaper and simpler than maintaining dozens of national registrations.

The risk is the flip side of the same coin: it is all-or-nothing. Because the right is unitary, a problem in a single member state can defeat the entire EUTM. For example, if a business in just one EU country owns an earlier conflicting mark and opposes your application — or later seeks to cancel it — that one conflict can block or invalidate your EUTM everywhere, even in the 26 countries where no one objected.

That sounds alarming, but the system has a safety valve: conversion. If your EUTM is refused, opposed, or cancelled because of a conflict limited to certain countries, you can convert it into separate national trademark applications in the member states where no conflict exists — and crucially, those national filings keep the original filing date of your EUTM. You pay national fees and go through national procedures, but you do not lose your priority. Conversion is also what you would use if you decided not to renew the EUTM as a whole but wanted to keep protection in a few specific countries.

The takeaway: the unitary right is a powerful bargain, but it makes a thorough clearance search across the EU before filing more important, not less. Many filers have an attorney run that search precisely because one buried national conflict can unravel the whole registration.

How to file: directly with the EUIPO vs. through the Madrid Protocol

There are two main routes to an EUTM, and the right one depends on where else you want protection.

Route 1 — File directly with the EUIPO. You submit your application through the EUIPO’s online system. As of 2026, the basic fee is 850 euros for one class of goods or services, plus 50 euros for a second class and 150 euros for each additional class. The EUIPO examines the mark, publishes it, and allows a window for third parties to oppose. If no opposition succeeds, it registers. This is the most direct path when the EU is your main target.

Route 2 — Designate the EU through the Madrid Protocol. The Madrid Protocol is an international system run by WIPO that lets you extend one “home” trademark registration to many countries through a single international application. The EU is one of the territories you can designate. So if you already have (or are filing) a home-country trademark and want the EU plus other countries — say, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia — you can designate all of them, including the EU, in one Madrid application instead of filing separately in each.

Which is better? Roughly speaking:

• If the EU alone is your goal, filing directly with the EUIPO is usually the cleaner, faster path.
• If you want the EU as part of a wider international portfolio, designating the EU through Madrid can centralize your filings and renewals.

Either way, the same EUTM rules — the 27-state coverage, the unitary right, the conversion safety valve — apply to the EU portion. For the fundamentals of building and filing a trademark in the first place, see How to Trademark Your Business.

The post-Brexit UK gap you cannot ignore

Here is the single most common mistake businesses make with EU trademarks today: assuming an EUTM still covers the United Kingdom. It does not.

The UK left the European Union, and as a result the UK is no longer part of the EUTM system. A new EUTM you file today protects you in the 27 EU member states — but not in the UK. (Existing EUTMs that were registered before the UK’s exit were handled with cloned UK rights at the time, but that is a one-time historical conversion, not an ongoing benefit; any new EUTM gives you nothing in the UK.)

So if your brand sells into Britain, you need a separate UK trademark filing, either:

• directly with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), or
• by designating the UK through the Madrid Protocol alongside your EU designation.

Treat “Europe” as at least two jobs now: the EU (via the EUTM) and the UK (on its own). The same logic applies to other non-EU European countries such as Switzerland and Norway, which were never in the EU system and always required their own filings.

Term and renewal

An EUTM lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely, in 10-year blocks, for as long as you keep paying the renewal fees. There is no cap on the number of renewals.

A few maintenance notes:

• One renewal covers all 27 states at once — another efficiency of the unitary system.
• The EUIPO provides a grace period after the 10-year mark to renew late (with a surcharge), but you should not rely on it.
• As noted above, if you ever choose not to renew the full EUTM but want to keep protection in specific countries, conversion into national rights is the mechanism to do that.
• You should also genuinely use the mark in the EU. An EUTM that goes unused for a continuous period (generally five years) can become vulnerable to cancellation for non-use — so registration is the start of the job, not the end of it.

Is an EUTM right for you?

An EUTM tends to make sense when you:

• sell, ship, or actively market into multiple EU countries, or expect to soon;
• want broad European coverage at a fraction of the cost of filing country by country;
• prefer one registration, one renewal date, and one record to manage.

It may be a poorer fit when you:

• only care about one or two specific EU countries (national filings may be simpler and reduce the all-or-nothing risk);
• already know of a strong conflicting mark in even one member state that could sink the whole application (here, targeted national filings or a careful clearance review come first);
• need the UK or other non-EU markets — remember those are separate jobs.

Cost is rarely the deciding factor on its own. Because the unitary right means a single conflict can unravel everything, the smartest money is usually spent up front on a clearance search across the EU and a strategy that accounts for the UK gap.

The bottom line

A European Union Trade Mark is one filing through the EUIPO that protects your brand across all 27 EU member states for 10 years, renewable indefinitely, often far more cheaply than filing country by country. Its unitary nature is both its greatest strength — one right, one renewal — and its main risk, since a conflict in a single country can block the whole registration (with conversion to national filings as the backstop). You can file directly with the EUIPO or designate the EU through the Madrid Protocol. And never forget the post-Brexit reality: the UK now needs its own separate filing. For more on protecting brands across borders, explore our trademarks topic hub.

This guide is general educational information about intellectual property, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. EU and UK trademark rules and fees change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts. Before filing or making decisions about your brand, consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction or a qualified EU/UK trademark representative.