EUIPO statistic around EU trademark applications

The European Union Intellectual Property Organization (EUIPO) regularly publishes statistics on the European Union Trademark (EUTM), providing general information on the number of applications, registrations, oppositions and renewals in a given period of time. These statistics are broken down by country, type of mark, classes of goods and services. This article is limited to the figures relating to applications.

2020 was a slightly different year in general due to Covid-19, but there was not a reduction, but rather an increase in trademark applications.

I. Number of Applications

By November 2020, an impressive total of 158.564 EUTM applications had been filed. Unfortunately, at the time of publication of the statistics, data from December 2020 was not yet available. However, it can be expected that the total number of applications from 2019 of 160.531 was significantly exceeded in 2020. Especially in the second half of the year of 2020, there were more applications each month compared to the previous year 2019.

Finally, it should be noted that since the statistics began in 1996, an impressive total of more than 2 million EUTM applications have been filed.

The type of applications is also particularly noteworthy, as over 80 percent were submitted via the e-filing function in 2020. The fast track option has also become increasingly popular since it was made available on the EUIPO website in November 2014. In 2020, very few applications were submitted by mail and not a single application was submitted by fax. This shows that legal tech is becoming increasingly popular among users.

II. Country Overview

In 2020, Germany filed a total of 22.5587 applications, which is more than one-fifth of all applications filed by countries of the European Union. Looking at the breakdown by country within the European Union, it is striking that Germany filed by far the most applications.

In second and third place are Italy and Spain, each of which submitted around 9.000 to 12.000 applications.

But even when countries outside the European Union are included in the comparison, Germany remains at the top among all countries. Only China can knock Germany off first place in 2020 with 24.817 applications.

III. Type of Marks and Classes

In 2020, the applications filed included almost exclusively figurative (43%) and word marks, with word marks ranking first (56%), as in the previous years.

The distribution among the number of classes remains without much change in 2020 compared to previous years. 40% of all applications are limited to apply the mark in one class only. There is also no deviation worth mentioning in the distribution within the classes. Top classes continue to be Class 9 (e.g. software, electronics etc.), which concerns goods, and Classes 35 (e.g. business, consulting etc.) and 42 (e.g. software development etc.), which concern services.

IV. Conclusion

In summary, although Corona slows down life in many areas, this did not affect the trademark applications in 2020. This is a good sign, because a high willingness to apply for an EUTM is an indicator of business confidence and the importance of intellectual property.

For more information please be referred to:

https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/de/the-office

https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnel-web/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/contentPdfs/about_euipo/the_office/statistics-of-european-union-trade-marks_en.pdf