Trade mark offices

National trade mark offices

The national trade mark offices issue national trade mark rights in their respective countries.

Please note it is only the national Danish trade mark registration which covers the Kingdom of Denmark. Neither the European Union trade mark nor the Madrid Protocol designating Denmark will obtain trade mark rights for the Faeroe Islands or Greenland.

EUIPO

The EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) is the official trade marks and designs registration office of the European Union.

Trade marks protected in the entire European Union, European Union trade marks, can also be searched via TMview. For further information on the geographical coverage of European Union trade marks, please click here.

WIPO and the Madrid system

WIPO is an intergovernmental organisation with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It is responsible for the promotion of intellectual property throughout the world via cooperation amongst states. It is also responsible for the administration of various international treaties, among which are the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Under these agreements, WIPO oversees the registration of international trade marks. The trade marks protected under the International Registration system (the Madrid system), designating a country within the European Union, can also be searched in TMview. For further information about international registrations under the Madrid system, consult the: WIPO website.

Quick search

Question mark icons' behaviour

The question mark icons can, besides giving access to the help pages, appear in 3 different colours:

• Green (by default): Everything is OK.
• Orange: Hover over the icon to see the warning message.
• Red: Hover over the icon to see the error message.

Using the quick search

The quick search is based on a single criterion.

The search retrieves all trade marks containing the string you have provided as a separate word in the trade mark name.

Wildcards

The wildcards ('*') and jokers ('?') can be used when searching for trade mark names or applicant names in the Quick search and the Advanced search.

The asterisk (*) substitutes zero or more characters.

The default is a search by word or name, i.e. input is: 'cola', results is 'coca cola' or 'cola flavoured' but not 'chocolate'. If the users use wildcards, the corresponding rules apply to the word where the wildcards are added. For instance: '*cola*' will return chocolate and any other trade mark which contain 'cola' as part of the trade mark name.

The question mark (?) substitutes only one character, example:'abc?e' will search for any text with that pattern, e.g. 'abcae', 'abcbe', etc.

Image Search

1. Click on the camera icon to display the ‘Drag and drop or upload image' box.
2. Upload or drag and drop the image you want to search for in the ‘Drag and drop or upload image' box. Remember using always files with JPEG, PNG, GIF and TIFF extensions, larger than 100x100 pixels and with a maximum size of 2 Megabytes.
3. Once your image is uploaded, you can:

• Keep the red frame proposed by the system or select the part of the image you want to search by clicking in a point of the image to create and expand a customized frame with your desired selection.
• Type the necessary characters in the search bar in case you want to do a combined search of an image along with trade mark name or number.
• Tick on the 'Colour' box if you want to search just for Colour per se trade marks rather than the entire set of trade marks.
• In case you upload a wrong file, you can replace it by another one by clicking on ‘Change image'.

Advanced search

Question mark icons' behaviour

The question mark icons can, besides giving access to the help pages, appear in three different colours:

• Green (by default): Everything is OK.
• Orange: Hover over the icon to see the warning message.
• Red: Hover over the icon to see the error message.

Using the advanced search

The advanced search provides several search criteria which can be used separately(*) or in combination.

The advanced search criteria are shown below:

Search by trade mark name
Search by trade mark office
Search by territory of protection
Search by trade mark reference number
Search by trade mark type
Search by trade mark status
Search by applicant name
Search by Nice class
Search by Vienna code
Search opposable trade marks
Search by application date

WARNING: Please note that some search criteria cannot be used alone. A red question mark icon will be shown; hovering over it will inform you that this criterion must be combined with at least one more criterion.

As some offices do not use in their register certain criteria, those same criteria cannot be used to search their trade marks. Because searches can only be launched for all the offices at once, if you use in the advanced search a criterion not available for an office, TMview will show the results for this office, but without applying the mentioned search criterion to the list of results from this office.

Search by trade mark name

TMview will search and retrieve all marks where the entered string appears as a separate word. If more than one word is entered, TMview will retrieve all marks where each entered string appears as a separate word in the same trade mark name.

Tick the check box Fuzzy search to search for trade marks that are similar in spelling. The TMview fuzzy search is based on the Levenshtein distance, or edit distance algorithm. For example, a fuzzy search for the term 'roam' will retrieve terms like 'foam' and 'road'.

Tick the check box Phrase search to retrieve trade marks that include the exact string entered (trade mark names and respective order). It should be noted that the Phrase search works when the search contains more than one word. If only one word is entered the search will retrieve the same list of results as a normal search.

Search by trade mark office

Limit the search to one or more trade mark offices by ticking the corresponding check boxes in the drop down window.

* Please note that the content of the lists of 'trade mark offices' and 'territory of protection' are mutually dependent:

• Selecting any EU/non-EU participating national/regional Office(s) as 'office of origin' will allow you to select the corresponding national territory(-ies) as 'territory of protection'.
• Selecting the EUIPO as the 'office of origin' will allow you to select all individual EU national territory(-ies) or entire EU (EUIPO) as 'territory of protection'.
• Selecting WIPO as 'office of origin' will allow you to select any individual EU/non-EU national territory(-ies) or entire EU (EUIPO) as 'territory of protection'.

Apart from using it on its own, 'Trade mark office' criterion can be used combined with 'Territory of Protection' criterion. It will allow to retrieve, for example, International registration (Trade mark office = WIPO) designating specific country/ies (corresponding Territory/ies of protection).

Search by territory of protection

Limit the search to one or more geographical area where the trade mark has effect by ticking the corresponding check boxes in the drop down window.

* Please note that the content of the lists of 'trade mark offices' and 'territory of protection' are mutually dependent:

• Selecting any EU territory(-ies) as 'territory of protection' will allow you to select the corresponding participating national/regional Office(s), EUIPO or WIPO as 'office of origin'.
• Selecting any non-EU territory(-ies) participating in TMview as 'territory of protection' will allow you to select the corresponding participating national/regional Office(s) or WIPO as 'office of origin'.
• Selecting the entire EU(EUIPO) as 'territory of protection' will allow you to select EUIPO or WIPO as 'office of origin'.

This criterion can be used to retrieve trade marks from different Offices with effect in the specified territory/ies. For example, trade marks protected in a given national EU territory could have been registered in the corresponding EU office, or at EU level (EUIPO) or at international level (WIPO).

Search by trade mark reference number

TMview allows you to search for a specific trade mark if you know the application or registration number for the trade mark you are looking for.

Search by trade mark type

The search by trade mark type offers the following search options:

• All: Any trade mark type will be searched for.
• Word: Word marks consist solely of words and contain no figurative elements.
• Figurative: Figurative marks have a graphical representation. However, depending on the office, the concept of Figurative marks may slightly differ: When a Figurative trade mark also contains a name (having a name is the characteristic of a Word mark) then some offices classify this figurative trade mark as a Combined trade mark. In TMview, any mark containing a graphical representation is listed under 'Figurative'. You will then get: Figurative, Combined and 3D marks in the list of results when selecting the mark type Figurative.
• Other: In TMview, 'Other' refers to any trade mark type apart from those already covered by Figurative and Word.

* Please note that the correspondence between TMview trade mark types and office's types depends of availability of each type in each on the participating offices.

For example, all French combined trade marks are indexed under the 'Other' mark type category whereas the French figurative marks remain under the 'Figurative' category. France operates only with figurative and combined trade mark types. A French trade mark is indexed as 'Figurative' when it is purely figurative and therefore contains no written elements. All other trade marks are 'Combined'. As a result there are French trade marks indexed as 'Combined' which do not contain any image.

Search by trade mark status

The search by trade mark statuses offers the following search options:

• All: Any trade mark status will be included in the search.
• Registered (R): The trade mark is legally protected.
• Filed (A): The trade mark is still an application and is undergoing the examination procedure. The trade mark has therefore not been registered yet.
• Ended (E): The trade mark has been refused, cancelled, withdrawn etc.
• Expired (X): The registration period has ended and the trade mark was not renewed.

Select one of these statuses to limit your search.

Search by applicant name

TMview will search and retrieve all marks where the entered string appears as a separate name in the applicant name. If more than one name is entered, TMview will retrieve all marks where each entered string appears as a separate name in the applicant name.

Search result for the above search:

Tick the check box Fuzzy search to search for applicant names that are similar in spelling.

The TMview fuzzy search is based on the Levenshtein distance, or edit distance algorithm.

For example to search for an applicant name similar in spelling to 'John' you will find terms like 'Jean' and 'Joana'.

Search by Nice class

One or more classes, separated by commas, may be specified using class numbers.

For help finding the relevant classes, click the selector button to the right of the search field. The selector displays the class headings of each class and allows you to choose class numbers. Mark one or more class numbers by clicking on each number and click OK to add the class number(s) to the search field.

* Please be aware that the Nice class cannot be used alone as a search criterion. It has to be combined with at least one more criterion.

Please note, you cannot launch a search which specifies only the first level of the Vienna code (for instance, 01.*). The Vienna code search is available on 2 or 3 levels. For instance, you can either specify the first two levels (e.g. 01.03.*) or all three levels (e.g. 01.03.06).

Importing Nice classes from TMclass

If you do not know which Nice class a certain good or service belongs to, you can use the search field provided by TMclass to find the corresponding Nice class. The search field can be used to highlight the Nice classes in the grid corresponding to the good or service you looked for.

The Nice classification system

The Nice Classification consists of a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trade marks and service marks. The Nice Classification is based on a multilateral treaty called the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, administered by WIPO and concluded in 1957. The Nice Classification comprises the Class Headings accompanied by Explanatory Notes and an alphabetical list of Goods and Services, with the class in which each product or service is placed. The Class Headings describe in very broad terms the nature of the goods or services contained in each of the 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services. They are accompanied, where appropriate, by Explanatory Notes which describe in greater detail the type of product or service included in the classes concerned. For further information, consult the: WIPO website on the Nice Classification system.

Search by Vienna codes

Enter the desired Vienna code in the search field using the format 00.00.00. You may also enter part of the code followed by an asterisk to retrieve all subclasses in a class.

It is not possible to search by Vienna code using the main category alone, e.g. 01 'Celestial bodies...'. A search specifying the second level, e.g. 01.01 'Stars, comets' will retrieve all marks belonging to the particular subcategory. Entering the entire code, e.g. 01.01.12 'Stars with uneven points' will find marks classified in this subcategory only.

WARNING: Please be aware that the Vienna codes cannot be used alone as a search criterion. It has to be combined with at least one more criterion. 

For help in finding a Vienna code, click the selector button to the right of the search field. The selector allows you to search for Vienna classes by number, by search words or simply by clicking the headings in the list. Select a class and click ADD. When finished, click OK, and the classes will be added to the search field.

The Vienna classification system

The Vienna Classification provides symbols for marks which consist of or contain figurative elements. It is based on a multilateral treaty called the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, administered by WIPO, concluded in 1973 and entered into force in 1985. The Vienna Classification constitutes a hierarchical system that proceeds from the general to the particular, dividing all figurative elements into categories, divisions and sections. Explanatory notes have been introduced where appropriate. For further information, consult the: WIPO website on the Vienna Classification system.

Search opposable trade marks

An opposition is a challenge by an earlier trade mark registration of a later trade mark application for the purpose of annulling the registration of the latter. The opposition can only be filed during the opposition period.

* Please note that the duration of the opposition period differs in each office.

For example,the German office specifies that the end of opposition period represents the earliest possible expiry of the opposition period taking into account weekends and national holidays. Due to German country-specific public holiday regulations at the place where the notice of opposition is received, the end of the opposition period may differ.

Tick the check box to search trade marks which are opposable according to the trade mark offices' different opposition periods.

Search by application date

All applications are given an application date. To find trade marks applied for within a particular period, enter the dates of the period.

From date only: The search will retrieve marks with an application date on and after the entered date.

To date only: The search will retrieve marks with an application date on or before the entered date.

Rules for date fields

The date format to search by a date is: DD-MM-YYYY, e.g. 30-05-2006.

Sort results by

Sort the list of search results according to any preferred column before searching by selecting the column from the list in the drop down window.

Order results

The search results may be listed either in Ascending or Descending order according to the selected column.

Search status

Search status icons for the offices

Next to each office 3 different icons can appear:

• Green tick icon: means the search was successful . Hover over the icon to see the information message.
• Orange tick icon: means the search was successful plus there is more important information. Hover over the icon to see the warning message.
• Red cross icon:means there was some kind of error or communication problem with the corresponding office. Hover over the icon to see the error message

Preferences

Adjusting the list of results

There are two ways to adjust the list of results:

1. The first one is through the Advanced search (Sort results by and Order results). Please see: Advanced search

   Please note the column for Opposition deadline gives information as to how many days there are left to oppose the different trade marks in the list of results. If the field is empty, the trade mark can no longer be opposed.

2. Secondly, selecting different columns to appear in the list of results from View/Hide columns.

   Add or remove the columns by checking or unchecking the desired boxes. By default only some columns are selected and displayed, but some other can be chosen to be displayed.

Additionally, you can change the default settings of the list of results for the following preference options:

1. Display 10/20/50 results per page: Change the number of results per page to be displayed in the list of results.
2. Remember column layout: Check this box in order to save the column layout for your next searches.

Click the Reset all button to return to the original layout of the list of result.

Create alerts

Log in & register

To use Alerts it is required to register and log in first. Please also note if you register and/or log in after carrying out a search, TMview will be reset and the search will be lost.

How to register

In order to register you have to type in your email address and a password you would like to use for future sessions. Subsequently you click the register button.

How to log in

To log in you have to type in the email address and password you have registered. Subsequently you click the login button.

Forgot your password?

If you have forgotten your password, click the corresponding link. Type in your email address and click apply.

Change password

If you want to change password, click the corresponding link. Type in your email address, the old password and the new password and then click apply.

Configure your alerts

When you have registered and logged in, tick the red flag in the left column for the trade marks you wish to be updated on.

You can receive an alert for one or more of the following options:

1. Receive an alert on name change: Tick this check box to be informed when there is a change of the applicant of the trade mark.
2. Receive an alert on status change: Tick this check box to be updated on any change of status for the selected trade mark.
3. Receive an alert when the opposition period is close to an end: Tick this check box to be warned when the opposition period for the selected trade mark is about to expire. Subsequently, indicate how many days before expiry of the opposition period you want to be notified.

In the drop down window, Alert duration is in months, select for how many months you wish to be notified on one or more of the above-mentioned alerts.

Under Subject, type in the subject of the alert emails you will receive for the selected trade marks.

Confirm the alert by clicking the Validate alert configuration button. The selected trade marks and configured alerts will appear in the View alerts tab.

View alerts

To view the list of trade marks for which an alert has been created, click the View alerts tab.

If you wish to edit an alert for a trade mark, click the Edit alert button in the Actions column. Check or uncheck the boxes in the Active column to modify the alert. Subsequently click the Apply changes button now appearing in the Actions column to save the changes.

If you wish to delete an alert for a trade mark, click the Delete button in the Actions column.

List of results

Sorting the list of search results

By default, the list of results is ordered by the trade mark name ascending.

To change the sort order of the list of search results, simply click on a column heading to sort by the particular column, ascending or descending.

Changing the order of columns

The order of the columns may be changed by dragging the column heading to the desired place.

Additional information

Occasionally you will see a plus button in the left margin next to the trade mark name column. Click this button to see more information for the trade mark.

Special search results

For the below-mentioned offices, please note the following information:

The UK office also provides series applications which consist of a number of marks which are essentially the same and where any differences are not significant (for example the same word mark shown in CAPITALS, in italics, and in plain lower case lettering).

The Portuguese office also provides logotypes. While a trade mark is a sign that identifies a company’s goods or services in the marketplace, and distinguishes them from those of other companies, a logotype is used to identify the company itself (or firm or corporation) that provides those goods or services. The logotype is the way by which a certain entity intends to be known to the public and it can be used in establishments, commercials and for communication.

The Spanish office, besides trade marks, also provides Trade names and Titles of Establishment.

Trade marks and trade names are distinctive signs that are protected through titles awarded by the state. These grant the title holder exclusive right to their use in economic operations and to prevent others from using protected distinctive signs or other identical or similar signs applied to identical or similar products or services in Spain.

Trade marks are signs allowing business people to distinguish their products or services from the products or services of competitors.

Trade names are signs or denominations identifying a company in trade activities and serve to identify it, separate it and distinguish it from other companies undertaking identical or similar activities.

Titles of Establishment are signs or names which serves to make a shop known publicly and which distinguishes it from other shops with identical or similar activities.

Current Spanish trade mark law no longer allows for Titles of Establishment registration. Nevertheless, Titles of Establishments registrations granted according to previous regulations will remain in force until the conclusion of the period for which they were registered or renewed. Upon termination of the validity period of this registration or renewal, the Titles of Establishments will be cancelled permanently but will continue being protected by the rules of unfair competition law.

Viewing the details of a trade mark in TMview

To access the details of a trade mark displayed in the list of search results, click on the Trade mark name or Trade mark reference number in the list of results.

A new tab containing the trade mark details will appear next to the tab with the list of search results.

Trade mark details

Trade mark

Here you find all basic information on the trade mark for a general overview.

List of goods and services

The goods and services for which a trade mark is applied or registered are placed under the corresponding class numbers according to the Nice classification (please see the Nice classification system).

The goods and services for each Nice class appear in the application language for the selected trade mark. The service provided by TMclass can translate the goods and services into any of the supported languages.

Please note, that some offices use the class 0 as a placeholder for goods and services not classified according to the Nice classification, or for goods and services for which no suitable Nice class exists in the current edition of the Nice classification. For instance, up to 2006 the French office did not indicate the goods and services in trade mark applications or registrations under their corresponding Nice class. Rather all the goods and services applied for were grouped (under a pseudo class number 00) and the Nice classes affected where mentioned in the registration. From 2006 the French office started to classify and indicate all goods and services in a trade mark application according to and under their Nice class.

USPTO's classification of certain marks

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) uses unique classifications for certification marks. It classifies certification marks for goods and for services in classes A and/or B and collective membership marks in Class 200. These classifications are not included in the Nice Agreement. Please note that these classifications have not been entered into TMview. Therefore, a query within TMview for applications or registrations that include these classes will not return any results. However, such records can be searched within TMview by Nice classes. The records for each mark that the USPTO has classified in Class A are associated with Nice Classes 1-34 in the database, the records for each mark that the USPTO has classified in Class B are associated with Nice Classes 35-45 in the database and the records for each mark that the USPTO has classified in Class 200 are associated with Nice Classes 1-45.

In addition, until September 1, 1973, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) classified the goods and services associated with trademarks using a particular classification system (the 'U.S. Classes') that differs from the international classification set forth in the Nice Agreement. All U.S. registrations issued on the basis of an application filed on or before August 31, 1973, are classified in those classes, unless the owner of the U.S. registration amends that registration to classify the goods or services according to the Nice classification system. Please note that the U.S. Classes have not been entered into TMview. Therefore, a query within TMview for registrations that are classified in those classes will not return results or may return incorrect results. However, the records for such registrations can be searched within TMview by Nice class, because those records have been associated with their appropriate Nice Classes.

For more information about the U.S. Classes, please visit the USPTO website at www.uspto.gov, and please see, in particular, Chapter 1400 of the USPTO's Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) accessible at http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/tmep/1400.htm. In addition, the U.S. classification schedule that was used prior to September 1, 1973 is set forth in 37 C.F.R. §6.2, and can be viewed at http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/law/tmlaw.pdf

Owner details

Name and address details of the owner.

Representative details

Name and address details of the representative.

Correspondence address details

Address of correspondence if different from owner/representative address. 

Seniority information

Date and origin of seniority.

Exhibition priority information

Date and details of exhibition priority.

Priority information

Date and origin of priority.

International registration transformation

International registration transformation.

Publication information

Date and bulletin number of publication.

Opposition information

Opposition date and details of the opponent.

Recordals information

Changes in the register such as name changes or licences.

Please note that not all offices provide this information in the current version of TMview.

Cancellation information

Date of application for cancellation and details of applicant for cancellation.

Please note that not all offices provide this information in the current version of TMview.

Appeals information

Information on appeal decisions.

Please note that not all offices provide this information in the current version of TMview.

Renewals information

Expiry date and status for renewal.

Viewing the details of a trade mark in the office of origin

See details of the trade mark in the office of origin's own register.