EU trademark search: is your name available in France and the EU?

Why search before you use or file a name?

Because trademarks are protected on a first come, first served basis, from their filing date, as the EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, puts it (checked October 2026). A name already taken can cost you twice: your application refused, and your use of the name stopped.

An earlier mark can block your filing, then your use

Upon opposition by the owner of an earlier mark, an EU trademark application is refused if it is identical to that mark for identical goods or services, or if the similarity of the signs and of the goods or services creates a likelihood of confusion (article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark, the EU trademark regulation, in force and checked October 2026). The opposition is filed within three months of publication (article 46).

French law is built the same way. A mark that infringes earlier rights having effect in France cannot be validly registered (article L711-3 of the French Intellectual Property Code, Code de la propriété intellectuelle), and the owner of an earlier mark, a company name, a trade name or a domain name can oppose the application within two months of its publication, before the INPI, the French trademark office (article L712-4).

Registration also gives an exclusive right of use. The owner can prohibit the use in the course of trade of the same or a confusingly similar sign, on goods, in advertising and as a company or trade name (article 9 of the regulation; article L713-2 of the Intellectual Property Code). The breach is infringement, contrefaçon, which engages civil liability (article L716-4).

Identical, similar, and the likelihood of confusion

An identical sign for identical goods or services conflicts without anything more to prove. Where the sign or the goods are only similar, there is a conflict only if the public may be confused, which includes the likelihood of association with the earlier mark (article 8(1) of the regulation; article L711-3, 1°). The EUIPO asks searchers to think as an average consumer: would they believe that goods bearing your sign come from the business behind the earlier mark?

A mark with a reputation reaches further: its owner can act even for goods that are not similar, where the later use takes unfair advantage of its reputation or harms it (article 9(2)(c) of the regulation; article L713-3). The brand in the rest of your French set-up is covered in the guide to doing business in France.

Which earlier rights count in France?

Three kinds of registered marks, held in different registers, and earlier rights that no trademark database records.

Three registered marks, one territory

Article L711-3 counts as earlier marks a French registered mark, an EU trade mark and an international registration having effect in France, together with applications for those marks, subject to their registration. The EU regulation draws the same circle around an EU application (article 8(2)).

An EU trade mark counts in France because of its unitary character: it has equal effect throughout the Union (article 1(2) of the regulation). It covers France; a French mark registered at the INPI covers France only, and neither replaces the other. International registrations come from the Madrid system run by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, where one application designates the countries, or the Union, to be covered.

A mark registered only abroad does not count: trademarks are protected only where they are registered, as the EUIPO notes (checked October 2026). The exception is a mark well known in the sense of article 6 bis of the Paris Convention (article L711-3, II).

Rights no trademark register shows

Article L711-3 also lists other earlier rights having effect in France, among them:

• a company name (dénomination or raison sociale), if there is a likelihood of confusion;
• a trade name, a shop sign (enseigne) or a domain name whose reach is not merely local, on the same condition;
• copyright, and the rights in a protected design;
• a person’s surname, pseudonym or image;
• the name of a local authority or of a public entity, and registered geographical indications.

Company names, trade names, signs and domain names can ground an opposition at the INPI (article L712-4); copyright, designs and personality rights ground an action for nullity (article L714-3). The EU regulation has the equivalent rules (articles 8(4) and 60(2)).

Where do you search, and with which official tools?

Four official databases, open online, cover the registered marks that matter in France, and they overlap. None replaces the check of company names and of the market.

TMview and eSearch plus

TMview holds applications and registrations from all EU national offices, the EUIPO and many offices outside the EU (EUIPO, checked October 2026). Its help pages describe searches by name, territory, status, owner, Nice class and date, with a fuzzy search for close spellings. Set the territory of protection to France to gather the marks filed at the INPI, at the EUIPO or through WIPO that have effect there.

One trap is documented in the help: TMview indexes French combined marks under the type Other, so a filter on word marks leaves French marks out. Search all types.

eSearch plus is the EUIPO’s own database of published EU trade marks and their owners. Its advanced search accepts wildcards, an asterisk for several characters and a question mark for one, and filters by status, Nice class and type. Each record shows priority, oppositions and renewals, with a timeline of the procedure.

The INPI base and WIPO

The INPI trademark base on data.inpi.fr holds French marks filed since 1976, in force or not, and the EU and international marks in force, according to the INPI page published on 16 January 2025. The same platform opens the national register of businesses, where company names are checked, as described in the guide to the French business register. WIPO’s Global Brand Database adds the international marks of the Madrid system (checked October 2026).

How do you run the search, step by step?

In four passes, from the narrowest to the widest: the identical name, similar names, the classes of your goods and services, then the earlier rights outside the registers.

Identical, then similar

Start with the exact name in TMview, territory France, then read the records that matter in eSearch plus and the INPI base. Widen, since the EUIPO warns that similar signs can also be a threat (checked October 2026):

• Spelling. A letter added, removed or swapped, a plural, a hyphen; the fuzzy search and the wildcards do this work.
• Sound. Names written differently that sound the same, read aloud in French and in English.
• Meaning. Your name translated into French, French marks translated into English, names built on the same idea.

The right classes

Every mark is registered for a list of goods and services sorted into the classes of the Nice Classification, administered by WIPO: 34 classes of goods and 11 of services, according to the TMview help pages; the version in force since 1 January 2026 is NCL 13-2026 (WIPO, checked October 2026). List what you will actually sell, then find its classes.

Classes organise the register; they do not decide similarity. Goods are not similar because they share a class, nor dissimilar because they do not (article 33(7) of the regulation). Search your classes, then the neighbouring ones where a related product or service sits.

Earlier rights outside the registers

Last, check company names, trade names and shop signs in use, domain names and the web. They count only if the public may be confused, and trade names, signs and domain names only if their reach is more than local (article L711-3).

How do you read the results?

Field by field: is the mark alive, who holds it, for what, and since when.

Status, owner, goods and dates

TMview sorts marks into four statuses: filed, still under examination; registered, legally protected; ended, refused, cancelled or withdrawn; expired, not renewed. A filed application already counts as an earlier mark, subject to its registration (article L711-3, II; article 8(2)(b) of the regulation).

Then read the owner, the full list of goods and services rather than the class numbers, and the dates: the filing date, or an earlier priority date, decides who came first.

A mark not genuinely used for an uninterrupted period of five years can be revoked for the goods or services concerned (article L714-5; articles 18 and 58 of the regulation). In an opposition, the applicant can also require the owner of a mark registered for more than five years to prove its use (article L712-5-1; article 47 of the regulation).

What a database cannot show

• Unregistered rights. Company names, trade names, signs, domain names and well-known marks sit outside the trademark registers.
• Recent filings. An EU application is published once the EUIPO has examined it (article 44 of the regulation); a recent filing may not show yet, and still ranks from its filing date.
• Priority claims. A mark filed abroad in the last six months can claim that date for an EU application (EUIPO, checked October 2026).
• The conclusion. The INPI states that the data of its base is indicative and should not serve as the basis for decisions with legal or economic stakes.

What do you decide after the search?

The name is clear, clear with a risk you can manage, or it should change. Faced with a conflicting mark, the EUIPO lists the options: contact the owner, as many similar marks coexist; file and accept the risk of opposition; challenge the earlier mark; or adapt the sign (checked October 2026).

Clear, clear with risk, or change the name

• Clear. No identical or similar earlier right for related goods or services. File before you launch.
• Clear with risk. A similar right exists, but the goods are distant, the mark looks unused or coexistence is possible: go ahead with a plan, such as a narrower list of goods, a coexistence agreement or a revocation action.
• Change the name. An identical or confusingly similar mark, in force and used, in your field. Before launch, a new name costs a brief; after launch, packaging, a domain and sometimes damages.

Then file, in the right register

A French mark, filed at the INPI, covers France; an EU trade mark, filed at the EUIPO, covers France and every other member state. Official fees, checked October 2026: at the INPI, 190 euros for one class and 40 euros per additional class (fees applicable from 2 July 2026); at the EUIPO, 850 euros for one class filed online, 50 euros for the second and 150 euros for each class from the third. The filing itself, French or EU, is a separate step.

What does a lawyer’s clearance search add?

A database gives records; a clearance search gives an answer, built from the same official tools.

Three things no database gives

• A judgement on similarity. Whether two signs and two lists of goods are close enough to confuse the public turns on look, sound, meaning and the purpose of the goods.
• The rights outside the registers. Company names, trade names, signs and domains, weighed for reach and confusion.
• An opinion before you file. The conflicts found, their weight, a recommendation, the list of goods and the register. If a later filing comes close, the same reading supports an opposition.

Concord runs the clearance search before you file, then the registration in France, in the EU or internationally. If the name is chosen, or nearly, tell us what it is and where you will sell. The other questions a foreign business meets with French clients are in the guide to doing business in France.