The Community Trademark

The Community Trademark system covering the European Union (EU) enables you to get protection in all EU countries by making just one application.

The Community Trademark (CTM) has a unitary character: the mark can be registered only in the EU as a whole, and the registration has equal legal effect throughout the EU.

Community Trademarks are registered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) in Alicante, Spain.

The following natural or legal persons, including authorities established under public law, can be proprietors of Community Trademarks:

• nationals of EU member countries;
• nationals of other countries, provided that the country in question is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, or to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization;
• nationals of countries which are not parties to the Paris Convention, but who are domiciled or have their seat or who have real and effective industrial or commercial establishments within the European Community or in a country which is party to the Paris Convention; or
• nationals, other than those referred to under the paragraph above, who are domiciled in a country which is not party to the Paris Convention or the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, but which, in respect of trademarks, apply the principle of reciprocity.

Database

You will find details of registered Community Trademarks in the CTM Online service at the OHIM website. The service is free of charge. Go to the search page.

Fees for Community Trademarks

OHIM website

Read more about Community Trademarks on the OHIM website.