European Union Members: Community Trademarks

It is possible to obtain a truly multi-national trademark within the European Union known as a “Community Trade Mark”. This trademark covers all countries that are members of the European Union, which (as of 3 May 2010) is made up of 27 countries.

Options for Trademark Applications in the EU

As can be seen from the table below, many of the members of the European Union are also signatories to either or both the Madrid Protocol and the Madrid Agreement.

Members of the European Union and Madrid System

Member	Community Trademark	Madrid Agreement	Madrid Protocol
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark		-
Estonia		-
Finland		-
France
Germany
Greece		-
Hungary
Ireland		-
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania		-
Luxembourg
Malta		-	-
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden		-
United Kingdom		-

Note: in addition to the above, there are also three candidate countries as at 3 May 2010: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.

Choosing between the options for obtaining EU trademark protection

Australian-based trademark owners seeking protection in Europe need to consider a number of potential routes for obtaining trademark protection. Australia is not a signatory to the Madrid Agreement, therefore the main options are:

• individual trademark applications in a specific country or countries
• designating one or more member states in a Madrid Protocol application
• designating the European Union as a whole in a Madrid Protocol application
• making a European-based application for a Community Trademark

There is no single best option for every circumstance. The choice will be based on a number of factors including budget, the countries in which protection is required and also the results of trademark searches in the relvant countries.