Trademark registration in Europe, for an Indian business, usually means one European Union trade mark (EUTM) filed at the EUIPO. A single application can cover all 27 EU member states, with official fees from EUR 850 for one class. You can file directly from India, but will need an EEA-based representative for the EUIPO process that follows.
This guide covers the EU route to European Union trade mark registration (the EUTM at the EUIPO) and how it compares with the national and Madrid Protocol options, written for India-based founders and brand owners planning protection in Europe. It draws on the EU Trade Mark Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, and current EUIPO practice, verified as of June 2026.
- One EUTM is a single unitary right across all 27 EU member states; it cannot be held for some countries only (Article 1, EUTMR).
- Basic online fee is EUR 850 for one class, EUR 50 for the second class, and EUR 150 for each further class (EUIPO, verified June 2026).
- Protection runs for 10 years from the filing date and is renewable in 10-year terms.
- The catch for India filers: anyone may file, but because you are outside the EEA you must appoint an EEA-based representative for the proceedings after filing, such as examination and opposition (Article 119(2), EUTMR).
Route choice: a direct EUTM fits EU-wide protection; the Madrid Protocol route from India fits filing the EU alongside several other countries from one base.
What an EU trade mark protects, and why it is all-or-nothing
An EU trade mark is a single right that has effect across all 27 member states of the European Union from one application, rather than a bundle of national rights you manage separately. The EUIPO describes it as one registration procedure giving the owner exclusive rights throughout the Union. If a new country joins the EU, an existing EUTM automatically extends to cover it, subject to the conditions set at accession.
That single character has a sharp edge. An EUTM is an all-or-nothing right: a successful objection or opposition based on a problem in any one member state can defeat the whole application. The EUIPO itself frames it as a deal you either get for the entire EU or do not get at all.
There is a safety valve. Where an EUTM fails because of a problem in part of the EU only, you can convert the application into national trade mark applications in the countries where the problem does not arise, and keep the original filing date under Article 139 of the EUTMR. For an India-based owner, the practical reading is simple: one right and one renewal cover the whole bloc, but a serious conflict anywhere in the EU is a conflict everywhere until you convert.
Is an EU trade mark the same as a European trademark?
Not exactly, and the gap matters. Many businesses use “European trademark” loosely to mean an EU trade mark filed at the EUIPO, but the two are not the same. An EU trade mark covers the 27 EU member states only. Europe also includes markets that an EUTM does not reach: the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey and others. If any of those countries matter to your business, plan them as separate filings, because no single EU filing will cover them.
Your routes to trademark registration in Europe from India
There is no single way into Europe. The national, EU and international systems run in parallel and are complementary, and the right choice depends on how many countries you actually need. From India, three routes are open.
You can file nationally, country by country at each national office (or at the Benelux Office of Intellectual Property, which handles Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg together). You can file one EUTM at the EUIPO for all 27 states at once. Or you can use the Madrid Protocol through WIPO, filing an international application based on your Indian trade mark and designating the European Union as one of the territories.
An EUTM is usually a good fit if you want broad EU-wide protection, expect sales in several EU countries, or want one central registration for enforcement and marketplace takedowns. It is less suitable if you need only one EU country, if a serious conflict exists in a single member state, or if your budget is better spent on national filings.
| Route | What it covers | When it tends to fit | Main catch |
| National (or Benelux) | One or a few specific countries | You sell in only one or two EU markets | Separate filing, fee and language for each office |
| EU trade mark (EUTM) | All 27 EU states, one filing | The EU is a core market and you want EU-wide cover | All-or-nothing; an EEA representative is needed after filing |
| Madrid Protocol (designate EU) | The EU plus other Madrid countries from one base | You are filing the EU alongside several other countries | Five-year dependency on the Indian basic mark |
If you are weighing the last two against each other, our note on the Madrid Protocol compared with direct national filing works through the trade-offs, and the Madrid Protocol guide explains how an Indian basic mark supports an international filing.
EU trademark cost at the EUIPO
The EU trademark cost is built per class of goods or services. The basic online fee covers one class, and you pay for each additional class on top. The figures below are the official EUIPO fees published on its fees and payments page, verified as of June 2026.
| Fee (individual EU trade mark, e-filing) | Amount |
| Basic fee, first class | EUR 850 |
| Second class | EUR 50 |
| Each class from the third onwards | EUR 150 |
A two-class filing therefore costs EUR 900, and a three-class filing EUR 1,050. The basic fee falls due within one month of the EUIPO receiving the application, and it is not refunded once paid unless you withdraw on or before the day of payment. These are Office fees only; they do not include the cost of the representation discussed below.
Marks you can register: individual, collective and certification
An individual mark, the trade mark that distinguishes one business’s goods or services, covers the typical filing and carries the EUR 850 basic online fee. Two specialised types also exist: an EU collective mark, owned by an association to distinguish its members’ goods or services, and an EU certification mark, which signals defined characteristics such as material, mode of manufacture or quality. Under Article 83 of the EUTMR a certification mark cannot certify geographical origin, and its owner must not supply the goods or services certified. Both collective and certification marks carry a EUR 1,500 basic online fee.
Before filing: search, classes, languages and documents
Clearing the mark first matters more in the EU than many India-based applicants expect, because the EUIPO will not refuse your mark for clashing with an earlier one. Conflicts do not surface as an examiner’s refusal; they come back later as oppositions from earlier-right holders. A search of the EU registers before an EUIPO trademark filing is what reduces that exposure, and our guide to searching the EUIPO databases covers eSearch plus and TMview.
The EUIPO uses the Nice Classification, which has 45 classes (classes 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services). Choose only the classes your business genuinely uses, since each class beyond the first adds to the fee.
You also choose two languages. The application may be filed in any of the 24 official EU languages as the first language, and you must indicate a second language from the five EUIPO languages: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish (Article 146, EUTMR). The second language is one of the languages in which a third party could later bring opposition or cancellation proceedings against you, so it is a practical choice, not a formality.
Before you start a European Union trademark filing from India, it helps to have the following ready, since gaps here are what slow applications down:
- applicant name, legal status and full address;
- the mark itself, as the word or a clean logo file;
- the list of goods and services, mapped to the right Nice classes;
- your chosen route: direct EUTM, national filing, or Madrid designation;
- any priority claim, with the earlier application’s date and number;
- for a Madrid filing, your Indian basic application or registration number;
- your EU plans: existing use, launch date, distributors, marketplace listings or target countries.
How the EUIPO examines, publishes and registers your mark
EUIPO examination runs in three stages: a formalities and classification check, an absolute-grounds check, and translation followed by publication. The absolute-grounds check under Article 7 of the EUTMR asks whether the mark is distinctive and not merely descriptive of the goods or services, among other bars to registration.
The point India-based applicants often get wrong is what the examiner does not do. The EUIPO does not search for, or refuse your mark over, earlier conflicting marks. Relative grounds are left to third parties, who raise them through opposition. If the Office does raise an objection or a deficiency, you typically have two months to respond, and that period can be extended on request (current EUIPO practice, verified June 2026).
Once the application clears examination, the EUIPO publishes it in the EU Trade Marks Bulletin, and a three-month opposition period begins under Article 46 of the EUTMR, during which any holder of an earlier right may object. If no opposition is filed, or an opposition is rejected, the mark is registered and the registration is published. An electronic registration certificate is then available to download through your account; the EUIPO does not issue a paper certificate by default (current EUIPO practice, verified June 2026). If the application is refused or successfully opposed for part of the EU only, conversion into national applications remains available, keeping the original date.
How long does EU trademark registration take?
For a straightforward EUIPO trademark registration with no objection and no opposition, the mark moves through formalities, the absolute-grounds check, publication, the three-month opposition period and then registration. The application is published several weeks after the fee is paid, and a Fast Track application can reach publication sooner where the goods and services are chosen from the EUIPO’s accepted terms. Each variable adds time: an objection from the Office, a classification query, a third-party opposition, or a missing representative will all extend the EU trademark registration timeline, so treat any single figure as indicative rather than a promise (current EUIPO practice, verified June 2026).
The representative rule every India-based applicant must plan for
This is the requirement that catches India-based filers, and it is worth planning around before you spend the EUR 850. Anyone may file an EUTM application. But an applicant that has no domicile, principal place of business, or real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Economic Area must be represented before the EUIPO in all proceedings other than the act of filing, by a legal practitioner or professional representative based in the EEA (Articles 119(2) and 120(1), EUTMR). The EEA, for this purpose, is the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. This rule is only about who can represent you before the EUIPO; it does not extend EUTM protection beyond the 27 EU member states.
In practice that means an EUTM application from India can be lodged directly, but the moment an objection, a deficiency notice, or an opposition arrives, the EUIPO issues a letter requiring the applicant to appoint an EEA-based representative. Where the applicant does not appoint one, the Office can refuse protection. Appointing an EEA-based representative at filing, or immediately after, avoids that deficiency notice and keeps the timeline clean. The realistic reading for budgeting is that the official fee is only part of the cost: representation in the EEA is effectively required for the prosecution, not optional.
One Brexit consequence follows directly. Since the United Kingdom left the EU, UK practitioners can no longer represent applicants before the EUIPO, and the UK is now a separate filing rather than part of the EU right. If the United Kingdom is also a target market, treat it on its own track; our guide to registering a trademark in the United Kingdom sets out that route.
Deciding your fastest safe route into the EU
For EU trademark registration from India, the real choice is between a direct EUTM and a Madrid Protocol filing that designates the EU. A direct EUTM is often the cleaner route when the EU is the target in its own right: one application, one file and a single EU-wide registration, with EEA representation arranged from the start. The Madrid route tends to fit when the EU is one of several countries you are filing at the same time, because you manage them centrally from your Indian base.
The Madrid route carries one structural condition that direct filing does not. For five years from the international registration, the EU designation depends on your Indian basic mark; if that basic mark is withdrawn, cancelled or finally refused in that window, the dependent designations can fall with it under a central attack (Section 36D of the Trade Marks Act 1999). The Madrid system allows the affected designation to be transformed into national or regional applications within the prescribed window, which softens the blow but adds cost and steps. Filing a trademark in other major markets follows similar logic; our guide to filing a trademark in the United States shows how the same decision plays out there.
Three reader situations sharpen the choice. An exporter should budget the whole cost, the Office fee plus EEA representation, not the EUR 850 alone. A direct-to-consumer or marketplace brand should remember that one country is not the region: only a full EUTM gives cover across all 27 states. A cost-sensitive MSME selling into only one or two EU markets may find national filings cheaper, and should price both before committing.
The table maps common India-based scenarios to the route that tends to fit.
| Your situation | Route that tends to fit |
| The EU is your main target market | Direct EUTM at the EUIPO |
| You are filing the EU together with the US, UK and other Madrid countries | Madrid Protocol, designating each territory |
| Only Germany or France is commercially relevant | A national filing may be cheaper than a full EUTM |
| The UK is a priority market | A separate UK filing; the EUTM does not cover it |
| Your brand is not yet stable in India | Be cautious with Madrid: the five-year dependency ties the EU designation to your Indian mark |
After registration: genuine use and renewal
Registration is not the finish line. Under Article 18 of the EUTMR, an EU trade mark must be put to genuine use in the European Union within five years of registration. If the mark is not used for the goods or services it covers, it becomes open to revocation for non-use under Article 58(1)(a), and a continuous five-year gap in use can cost you the registration if a third party applies. Renewal is the other recurring obligation: an EUTM runs for 10 years from filing and must be renewed in 10-year terms, with a lapse taking effect across all 27 member states at once. For an India-based exporter, the practical lesson is to match the filing to the real EU commercial plan: register for the classes and goods you will actually sell, rather than a broad future ambition you may never act on.
Frequently asked questions
An EU trade mark covers all 27 member states of the European Union as a single unitary right under Article 1 of the EUTMR. One application and one registration give protection across the whole bloc, and the right automatically extends to any country that later joins the EU, subject to accession conditions.
The EUIPO basic online fee for an individual EU trade mark is EUR 850 for one class, EUR 50 for a second class, and EUR 150 for each further class (verified June 2026). Collective and certification marks carry a EUR 1,500 basic online fee. These are Office fees only and exclude representation costs.
Yes. Any person or company may file an EUTM application. However, an applicant with no domicile or real and effective establishment in the European Economic Area must appoint an EEA-based representative for EUIPO proceedings after filing, including examination, deficiencies, oppositions and later contentious proceedings, under Article 119(2) of the EUTMR.
No. The EUIPO examines only absolute grounds under Article 7 of the EUTMR, such as distinctiveness and descriptiveness. It does not refuse a mark for conflicting with an earlier registration. Earlier-right holders must raise such conflicts themselves through opposition within the three-month window after publication.
An EU trade mark is valid for 10 years from the filing date under Article 52 of the EUTMR and can be renewed indefinitely in successive 10-year terms. Renewal is centralised through the EUIPO, and lapse of the registration takes effect across all 27 member states at once.
A direct EUTM suits applicants whose main target is the EU and who want a single EU-wide right. The Madrid Protocol route suits applicants filing the EU alongside several other countries from one Indian base, but it carries a five-year dependency on the Indian basic mark under Section 36D of the Trade Marks Act 1999.
No. Since the United Kingdom left the EU, a new EU trade mark does not cover the UK. A business that wants protection in both should file a separate UK application, or designate the United Kingdom through the Madrid Protocol where that route is available, and plan the UK as its own filing.
No. An EU trade mark covers the 27 EU member states only. Switzerland and Norway sit outside the EU and need separate national filings, even though Norway belongs to the European Economic Area for certain purposes, such as who may represent an applicant before the EUIPO.
A straightforward application moves through examination, publication, a three-month opposition period and registration. Publication follows several weeks after the fee is paid. An objection from the EUIPO, a classification query or a third-party opposition can extend the timeline, so any single duration is more safely treated as indicative rather than fixed.
This article is for general information on trademark registration in Europe and does not constitute legal advice. EUIPO fees, time limits and procedures are set by the EUIPO and the EU Trade Mark Regulation and can change; figures are stated as verified in June 2026 and should be checked against the EUIPO before filing. For advice on your specific mark and route, consult a qualified trademark professional.