What does an EU trademark registration cover?
One right for the whole European Union. An EU trade mark, often called a European trademark, has equal effect in every member state, France included, from a single application filed at the EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Clearing the name comes first, as the guide to EU and French trademark searches explains; this guide starts once it is done.
One mark, equal effect throughout the Union
Under article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark, the EU trade mark regulation, in force and checked October 2026, the mark has a unitary character: it is registered, transferred, revoked or declared invalid, and its use prohibited, only for the whole Union. That is its strength, and its risk.
The right comes from registration (article 6) and lasts ten years from filing, renewable for further periods of ten years (article 52).
What you can register, and who can own it
Any sign can be registered, in particular words, personal names, designs, letters, numerals, colours, shapes and sounds, if it distinguishes your goods or services from those of other undertakings and can be represented clearly and precisely in the register (article 4). Any natural or legal person may own one (article 5).
A logo that includes your name is a figurative mark, protected as the combination shown, not word by word, according to the EUIPO (checked October 2026). If the name itself is the asset, file it as a word mark.
What do you prepare before you file?
Three things fix the scope and the owner of the mark: the list of goods and services, the applicant, and any earlier filing you can rely on.
The list of goods and services
The goods and services are classified under the Nice Classification and identified "with sufficient clarity and precision" for anyone to determine, on that basis alone, the extent of the protection sought (article 33 of the regulation). Class headings and general terms cover only what their literal meaning clearly includes; an unclear term is rejected unless you propose an acceptable wording (article 33(4) and (5)).
The EUIPO recommends pre-accepted terms from its Harmonised Database, found with its TMclass tool, covering what you plan to sell as well as what you sell today (checked October 2026).
The company or the founder?
In most cases, the company that will use the mark, since the applicant becomes the owner, as the guide to doing business in France also advises.
If the company is still being formed, a founder can file now and assign later: in writing, signed by both parties, or the assignment is void, and the new owner cannot invoke the mark until the transfer is registered (article 20). If a designer drew the logo, secure the rights in the drawing first, as the guide to IP assignment in France explains.
Priority and seniority
A first filing abroad gives you six months. If you applied for the same mark in a country party to the Paris Convention or the WTO agreement, an EU application for the same or narrower goods filed within six months can claim that date as its own (articles 34 and 36), with the documents within three months (article 35).
Seniority serves the owner of an identical mark already registered in a member state for the same goods. Claimed with the application or within two months, it keeps your rights in that state if you later let the national mark lapse (article 39).
How do you file, and what does an EU trademark cost?
Online, at the EUIPO, from 850 euros for one class, in one application containing the request, the applicant’s details, the list of goods and services and a representation of the mark (articles 30 and 31).
| What you pay for | Official fee | Fee due under |
|---|---|---|
| Application filed online, first class | 850 euros | Article 31(2) |
| Second class | 50 euros | Article 31(2) |
| Each class from the third | 150 euros | Article 31(2) |
| Opposition, paid by the opponent | 320 euros | Article 46(3) |
| Renewal online, first class (then 50 and 150 euros) | 850 euros | Article 53(3) |
| Conversion into national applications | 200 euros | Article 140(1) |
With the amounts of the EUIPO fees page, two classes therefore cost 900 euros online and three 1,050 euros. Paid more than a month after filing, the basic fee moves the filing date (articles 32 and 41). The EUIPO’s SME Fund 2026 voucher for trade marks is closed to new requests, its funds exhausted (checked October 2026).
Online, in two languages
You file in any official language of the Union and name a second language among the five languages of the Office: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish (article 146). It becomes a possible language of opposition, revocation and invalidity proceedings: file in English, name French, and an opponent may argue in French.
A representative if you are outside the EEA
A business with no domicile, principal place of business or real and effective establishment in the European Economic Area can file alone, but must be represented in every other proceeding before the Office (article 119 of the regulation): by a legal practitioner qualified and based in the EEA and entitled there to act in trade mark matters, or by a professional representative on the EUIPO’s list (article 120).
What happens between filing and registration?
The EUIPO checks the formalities and the absolute grounds, publishes the application, then waits three months for oppositions. Without opposition, the mark is registered.
The diagram follows the application from filing through examination, publication and the three-month opposition window to registration; below, conversion into national applications if it fails, then use within five years and renewal every ten years.
Formalities and absolute grounds
The EUIPO checks the formalities and fees (article 41), then the absolute grounds of article 7. The two most common refusals, it says, are a descriptive mark and a mark lacking distinctive character (checked October 2026): a sign that only describes the kind, quality, purpose or origin of the goods, or one consumers would not read as pointing to a single provider (article 7(1)(b) and (c)).
A ground found in only part of the Union is enough (article 7(2)): a word descriptive in one EU language is refused for the whole Union. Before refusing, the EUIPO gives you time to answer or amend (article 42).
Earlier rights come through opposition
The EUIPO does not refuse your mark on its own because of an earlier one. On request, it sends an EU search report, national offices add theirs for a fee, and the owners of the EU marks cited are told of your publication (article 43).
Publication in the EU Trade Marks Bulletin (article 44) opens three months in which owners of earlier rights can oppose on the grounds of article 8 (article 46). The EUIPO states that one application in five is opposed, and opens its proceedings with a cooling-off period for an agreement (checked October 2026). If the earlier mark has been registered for five years or more, you can require proof of its genuine use (article 47(2)).
Registration, and how long it takes
Without opposition, or once it fails, the mark is registered and a certificate issued (article 51). The EUIPO states that standard applications are normally published 8 to 11 weeks after payment, and Fast Track applications in half the time or less (checked October 2026); Fast Track requires, among other conditions, terms from the Harmonised Database, payment at filing and no search report.
On those figures, with the three-month opposition window, an unopposed standard application is registered some five months or more after payment.
What do you owe the mark once it is registered?
Three duties: use it, renew it, and watch for conflicting filings.
Use it within five years, renew it every ten
If, within five years of registration, the mark has not been put to genuine use in the Union for the goods or services registered, or use has been suspended for five uninterrupted years, it faces sanctions unless there are proper reasons (article 18). It can then be revoked for the goods not used, on application to the Office or by counterclaim (article 58). Use by a licensee, with your consent, counts as yours (article 18(2)).
Renewal is requested in the six months before expiry, or in the six months after with a late fee (article 53), which the EUIPO sets at 25 % of the renewal fee, up to 1,500 euros (checked October 2026). The Office reminds you, but its silence would not save the mark.
Watch, license and transfer
The EUIPO does not act against infringers: that is up to you (checked October 2026). A watch on new publications gives you the three months to oppose.
The mark is also an asset. It can be licensed for all or part of the goods and of the Union, exclusively or not (article 25), and transferred separately from the business (article 20). Record both in the register: until a transfer is entered, the new owner cannot invoke the rights.
Should you file an EU trademark, a French trademark or an international registration?
It depends on where you sell and where the risk lies.
| EU trade mark | French trademark | International registration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Territory | Every member state, France included (article 1) | France only (article L712-1) | Each country designated, or the Union (article 189) |
| Office | EUIPO | INPI | WIPO, through the office of the basic mark |
| Official filing fee | 850 euros online, one class; then 50 and 150 euros | 190 euros, one class; 40 euros each further class | 653 Swiss francs basic fee, plus fees per country and class |
| Duration | Ten years from filing, renewable (article 52) | Ten years from filing, renewable (article L712-1) | One renewal date for the whole registration |
| Opposition window | Three months (article 46) | Two months (article L712-4) | Set by each designated office |
| Refusal in one country | Fails for the whole Union; conversion (article 139) | Only France is at stake | Limited to that country; five years’ dependence on the basic mark |
The all-or-nothing risk, and conversion
The unitary character cuts both ways: an earlier mark registered in one member state can oppose your EU application (article 8(2)), and an absolute ground in one language refuses it everywhere (article 7(2)).
If the application is refused or withdrawn, or the mark ceases to have effect, you can request conversion into national applications where the ground does not apply, each keeping the EU filing or priority date (article 139). The request is made within three months; a refusal based on one language excludes every state where it is official (article 140(4)).
The French trademark and the Madrid system
A French trademark, filed with the INPI, the French office, is acquired by registration and lasts ten years from filing, renewable indefinitely (article L712-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code, Code de la propriété intellectuelle). Its fee is 190 euros for one class and 40 euros per additional class from 2 July 2026 (INPI, checked October 2026). It suits a business selling only in France, or a first filing to claim as priority.
Beyond the Union, the Madrid system run by WIPO takes one international application and one set of fees to seek protection in the 133 countries it covers, each designated office deciding under its own law (checked October 2026). A foreign company bases it on its home mark and can designate the Union (article 189); an EU trade mark serves as the basic mark only for an owner established, domiciled or national in the EU (EUIPO, checked October 2026).
When does a lawyer make the difference?
Before the filing and after it: in the choices that fix the scope of the mark, and when an examiner objects or an opponent appears.
Four decisions that set what the mark is worth
- The list of goods and services. Broad enough for the next years, precise enough to pass, close enough to real use to survive revocation.
- The owner and the route. Company or founder; EU, France or Madrid; priority and seniority claimed in time.
- Objections and oppositions. An answer on distinctiveness, a narrower list or a coexistence agreement, within the periods set.
- The years after. Use that counts, renewal dates, a watch on new filings.
Concord runs the clearance search, prepares and files the registration in the EU, in France or internationally, answers the examiner’s objections, and files or answers an opposition. If the name is chosen, tell us what you sell and where. The other questions a foreign business meets with French clients are in the guide to doing business in France.