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when starting a business in europe many entrepreneurs come across the topic of trademarks and wonder if they need to register one and how to do it in this video we are going to tell you what a trademark is in what cases you might require it how to apply for it what you should pay attention to in order to avoid being refused and other useful information please give this video a thumbs up if this topic is relevant to you subscribe to our channel and turn the notifications on not to miss more important information it's nexus europe gmbh your safe and reliable bridge to germany our company assists foreigners with studying and developing their own business in germany and moving to germany through business immigration or the eu blue card please contact us for an individual solution what is a trademark a trademark is intended to exclusively identify a product or service as belonging to a specific company trademarks are legally registered to represent a company service or product and like patents belong to the company's intellectual property protected as a trademark can be words phrases letters numbers symbols images as well as colors holograms multimedia signs and sounds if the business has a distinctive name logo etc and or offers unique products or services the owner may want to consider registering a trademark it is not obligatory however it would protect you from anyone else trying to use the same name or logo a trademark is a way to legally protect your business once a trademark is registered its owner gets the exclusive right to use the trademark for the protected goods and services if you work in germany or within the eu you may choose to register either a national german or a european trademark a national trademark provides protection within germany while european trademark is valid for the whole european union both trademarks are available for 10 years and can be renewed for another 10 years an unlimited number of times please note that renewal fees apply for reach renewal application fee the application fee for the trademark depends on the number of classes indicated there are 45 classes in total the basic application fee for a national trademark for up to three classes is 300 euro for paper-based feeling and 290 euro for online or electronic feeling adding additional classes to the application costs 100 euro per class the application fee for a european trademark is 850 or 900 euro for one or two classes respectively if made online paper-based feeling costs 1 000 euro if you choose to apply for more than two classes each additional class would cost 150 euro application for a german trademark there are three ways to apply for a national trademark number one online application on the website of the german patent and trademark office www please note that the application process is available only in german number two electronic application using the special software provided by the german patent and trademark office for this type of application a qualified signature card electronic signature is required number three paper-based application in this case you need to fill out several application forms that have to be submitted by post fax or in person you cannot send the application by email please note that some of the documents are available in german language only application for a european trademark the application options for a european trademark are similar to those of a national trademark number one online application can be made on the european union intellectual property office www.euipo.europa.eu number two paper-based application that is to be sent by post or courier service no application by email is accepted it is very important to file the application correctly and meet all the formal requirements this way the application can be processed faster if the applicant doesn't have a residence or an official place of business in the european economic area they must appoint a representative in the european economic area who will be in charge of the application as a rule an attorney or a lawyer that is qualified in the eea has their place of business in the eea and is authorized to represent the client in trademark matters can act as a representative before you file the application for a trademark it is very important to do a proper trademark search there are over 11 million trademarks already registered in the european union so you need to make sure that your desired trademark is available and no similar trademarks are already registered that it could be confused with the authorities don't check during the processing if similar or identical trademarks already exist so this is fully your task if you want to avoid onus of such trademarks taking legal actions against you reasons for refusal there are certain reasons why your application may be rejected since each situation is different there might be individual reasons for refusal however there are also some general reasons that one should be aware of in order to avoid refusal here are some examples number one lack of distinctiveness number two only general descriptive terms number three danger of deceiving or misleading the public number four an emblem of state included in the trademark number five violation of public policies or accepted principles of morality so as you can see a trademark should be as distinctive specific and precise as possible and can't violate any laws you need to have a very clear understanding of what a trademark can and cannot include there are extinctive guidelines on this matter on the internet however often only a professional working in this field can provide solid consultation and assistance in this matter as well as the application process as a whole if you'd like to avoid refusal and make sure your application is done correctly you should consider hiring a professional to take care of it for you this is a good way to minimize risks and successfully achieve your goal nexus europe gmbh is happy to assist foreign entrepreneurs with studying and developing their own successful business in germany and moving to germany through business immigration or the eu blue card please contact us to get an individual solution please give this video a thumbs up if you found it useful subscribe to our channel and turn the notifications on not to miss more important information and let us know in the comments what other topics you'd like us to make videos about because we work and create new content just for you thanks for watching
Thanks for your comment Kieth Hader, have a nice day.
- Virgina Scarth, Staff Member
in Germany trademarks are ministered by the Stoick chief a tenth unmarked Ananth oh they pay em now remember that the German Trademark Office refuses to accept any language other than German in all correspondence as well as for trademark filings so better brush up on your German when dealing with the dpma now if you do attempt to correspond with the dpma in english they will usually not respond however in one instance they did respond to my office and proceeded to scold me for attempting to communicate in english so you can see that they are very serious about this subject in addition a very important fact about the dpma is that the applicant must be a German national or company domiciled in Germany otherwise you must have a local German attorney as your representative when filing trademark applications in Germany which is understandable as the German is the official language of the dpma however this will result in excess time in retaining a lawyer and higher overall filing costs on a positive note it is not necessary to pay the DPM a application fee at the time of filing a trademark application and you will still obtain a priority date of the filing date despite not paying after applying provided that the dpma does not object to the register ability of a mark it takes between three and six months from application to registration depending on the workload of the office however it is possible to request accelerated examination of the application in which the dpma will then examine an application within six months from the application date the application is normally done online however the dpma does accept paper filings by mail or fax the official application fees are 300 euro for up to three classes efiling 290 euro and 100 euro for each additional class from fourth class on for accelerated examination the charges 200 euro and there are no official registration fees the dpma uses the International classification system provided that the application fees have been paid the application will then be examined as to absolute grounds for refusal and whether the list of goods and services complies with the NYSE classification and allows for proper classification there is no examination regarding relative grounds for refusal namely potentially conflicting prior rights of third parties and if there are no absolute grounds for refusal the trademark will be registered no use has to be claimed before registration is granted or issued and proof abuse is only required if the applicant claims that the mark has acquired distinctiveness through use and within five years after registration of a mark it becomes vulnerable to cancellation on the grounds of non-use if it has not been used genuinely for the goods and services for which it is registered unless there are proper reasons justifying non use opposition proceedings in Germany are post registration proceedings and a third party opposition is possible within three months after publication of a registration of a mark the initial period of registration for mark is ten years starting on the application date and ending after ten years on the last day of the month of the application date registration may be renewed for ten years by payment of the renewal fee of 750 euro for up to three classes in 260 euro for each additional class from the fourth class and renewal is available for an unlimited number of ten year periods no proof of use is required in order to obtain renewal of a registration for more information on filing german trademarks please visit please feel free to watch more of our videos to get valuable insights but the mechanics of applying for trademark registrations defending your marks opposing other conflicting Mart's dealing with office actions and many other intellectual property issues my name is jonathan morton and i have a licensed US attorney and a member of the trade markers network don't forget to subscribe
Thanks Aurelio your participation is very much appreciated
- Virgina Scarth
About the author
I've studied library classification at Northern Vermont University in Johnson and I am an expert in behavioural economics. I usually feel mellow. My previous job was hotel and motel desk clerks I held this position for 6 years, I love talking about herp keeping and swimming. Huge fan of Jamal Murray I practice weight lifting and collect antique.
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