Since the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) opened for business in 1994 (as OHIM), local European trademark offices have been less visible on the global stage. However, it’s important to know that the national offices continue to receive large numbers of trademark applications each year and are still among the largest registers in the world.
In this blog post, we’ll take a look at five of the largest national European Union (EU) offices: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg). In addition to examining the overall activity trends here, we dive into curated trademark data from Compumark™ to analyze application and filing history to identify the top trademark applicants from 2023.
France – Trademark applications
France is the largest national level trademark register in the EU, with nearly 1.4 million active trademark records. The French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) received just over 92,000 trademark applications in 2023. Volume has been falling in recent years, after a record high in 2021 of nearly 113,000 applications.
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
| Applicants | ||||
| 1. L’OREAL | 287 | |||
| 2. ALSTOM HOLDINGS | 46 | |||
| 3. LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER (LVMH) | 36 | |||
| 4. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) | 35 | |||
| 5. GUERLAIN | 31 | |||
| 6. D&D COSMETICS | 30 | |||
| 7. MELCHIOR MATERIAL AND LIFE SCIENCE FRANCE SAS | 29 | |||
| 8. ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL | 27 | |||
| 9. LABORATOIRES M&L | 26 | |||
| 10. BIOFARMA | 25 | |||
| 11. BARON PHILIPPE DE ROTHSCHILD | 24 | |||
| 12. ELYRADIA BIOTECHNOLOGY | 24 | |||
| 13. ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE (EDF) | 24 | |||
| 14. SHISEIDO | 23 | |||
| 15. LE QUERE | 23 | |||
| 16. UN SOCIÉTÉ CIVILE | 23 | |||
| 17. SOREGIES SA À DIRECTOIRE ET CONSEIL DE SURVEILLANCE | 23 | |||
| 18. MONSIEUR ADRIEN BENAMOU | 23 | |||
| 19. SKANDAR, SKANDAR RIAHI | 22 | |||
| 20. MONSIEUR SARAMFARZ MOHAMED MUNSOOR | 20 | |||
| 21. MULLER ET CIE | 20 | |||
| 22. ETABLISSEMENTS GABRIEL COULET | 20 | |||
| 23. DATA-IT | 20 | |||
| 24. SOCIÉTÉ PARISIENNE DE PARFUMS ET COSMÉTIQUES SAS | 20 | |||
| 25. LABORATOIRES DE BIOLOGIE VEGETALE YVES ROCHER | 20 |
| Representatives | ||||
| 1. CABINET GERMAIN ET MAUREAU | 633 | |||
| 2. IPSIDE | 468 | |||
| 3. NOVAGRAAF FRANCE | 464 | |||
| 4. PLASSERAUD IP | 418 | |||
| 5. FIDAL | 399 | |||
| 6. CABINET BEAU DE LOMENIE | 379 | |||
| 7. REGIMBEAU | 280 | |||
| 8. CABINET LAVOIX | 259 | |||
| 9. INLEX IP EXPERTISE | 245 | |||
| 10. CASALONGA | 241 | |||
| 11. TMARK CONSEILS | 214 | |||
| 12. @MARK | 211 | |||
| 13. ARDAN | 196 | |||
| 14. SANTARELLI | 178 | |||
| 15. WAASBROS | 175 | |||
| 16. IPSILON | 175 | |||
| 17. JACOBACCI CORALIS HARLE | 171 | |||
| 18. GEVERS & ORES | 164 | |||
| 19. CABINET LAURENT & CHARRAS | 152 | |||
| 20. CABINET LE GUEN MAILLET | 147 | |||
| 21. CABINET NUSS | 142 | |||
| 22. CABINET BOUCHARA – AVOCATS | 132 | |||
| 23. STRATO-IP | 129 | |||
| 24. IP SPHERE | 126 | |||
| 25. CABINET GUIU | 122 |
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
Germany – Trademark applications
Germany also has a large and highly active national trademark register, with over 920,000 active trademarks and around 75,000 new trademark applications filed each year. Like France, filing volume peaked in 2021 with over 87,000 new trademark applications filed. Although filing activity has fallen since 2021, it is still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
German applicants accounted for 92% of all new trademark applications filed at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in 2023. Visionborn IP was the leading applicant, filing 5,525 trademark applications during the year. It would appear that a high proportion of these are speculative and are not taken further: Visionborn IP has filed over 12,000 trademark applications at the DPMA but currently only owns 85 registered trademarks in Germany.
| Applicants | ||||
| 1. VISIONBORN IP GMBH | 5,525 | |||
| 2. HRUSCHKA, JÜRGEN | 490 | |||
| 3. CUNNINGHAM, RAUHA | 159 | |||
| 4. BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM INTERNATIONAL | 146 | |||
| 5. PLATA, GUIDO | 116 | |||
| 6. BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE (BMW) | 109 | |||
| 7. MÖHRING, CHRISTIAN | 105 | |||
| 8. BORNEMANN, STEFAN | 79 | |||
| 9. CAPELLA EOOD | 68 | |||
| 10. HALLINGERS GENUSS MANUFAKTUR GMBH | 67 | |||
| 11. SASSMANNSHAUSEN, DIETMAR | 65 | |||
| 12. STAHLMANN, MARKUS | 63 | |||
| 13. NIERMANN, WOLFGANG | 53 | |||
| 14. NIERMANN, LENNART | 49 | |||
| 15. GORAWANI, NAVID | 45 | |||
| 16. ESCHEN, HANS-JOACHIM | 44 | |||
| 17. PRAETORIUS, JÖRG PETER | 40 | |||
| 18. GIESE, MELANIE | 38 | |||
| 19. BRILLUX GMBH & CO. | 36 | |||
| 20. VOLKSWAGEN | 36 | |||
| 21. UNRAU, ANDREAS | 36 | |||
| 22. EVONIK OPERATIONS GMBH | 35 | |||
| 23. SCHEID, BOLKO BORIS OTTO | 35 | |||
| 24. SHR GERMANY GMBH | 34 | |||
| 25. BOTHMER PYROTECHNIK GMBH | 32 |
| Representatives | ||||
| 1. RECHT 24/7 SCHRÖDER | 1,151 | |||
| 2. SLOPEK RECHTSANWÄLTE | 932 | |||
| 3. BREUER LEHMANN | 865 | |||
| 4. RECHTSANW. JAHN, CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH | 652 | |||
| 5. PATENTANWÄLTE HABERMANN, HRUSCHKA & SCHNABEL | 486 | |||
| 6. HORAK RECHTSANWÄLTE | 440 | |||
| 7. RECHTSANW. BARCZYK, MARCIN | 416 | |||
| 8. PREHM & KLARE RECHTSANWÄLTE | 395 | |||
| 9. RECHTSANW. BREGUŁA, KRZYSZTOF | 372 | |||
| 10. ZELLER & SEYFERT | 343 | |||
| 11. RECHTSANW. PU, TIAN | 286 | |||
| 12. BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT | 223 | |||
| 13. RECHTSANW. LIESMANN, OLIVER | 207 | |||
| 14. RECHTSANW. GARCIA EGEA, ISIDRO JOSÉ, DR. | 148 | |||
| 15. IT-RECHT KANZLEI E. KELLER-STOLTENHOFF UND MAX-LION KELLER | 134 | |||
| 16. ETL IP | 134 | |||
| 17. EISENFÜHR SPEISER | 129 | |||
| 18. RECHTSANW. ALBERT CATALÁ, ANDREA | 129 | |||
| 19. COHAUSZ & FLORACK | 126 | |||
| 20. MEISSNER BOLTE | 125 | |||
| 21. LORENZ SEIDLER GOSSEL | 125 | |||
| 22. FRIEDRICH GRAF VON WESTPHALEN & PARTNER | 115 | |||
| 23. WEICKMANN & WEICKMANN | 110 | |||
| 24. NORDEMANN CZYCHOWSKI & PARTNER | 108 | |||
| 25. GRÜNECKER | 104 |
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
Italy – Trademark applications
Italy has an unusual feature on their trademark register: when trademark registrations are renewed they receive a new official number. Removing renewals from the analysis reveals that the Italian registry (UIBM – Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi) has seen remarkably stable trademark filing volume in recent years at around 40,000 new applications each year. 2021 was the exception, with a record 48,742 new applications filed.
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
The Italian trademark register is dominated by domestic brands. In 2023, Italian applicants filed over 96% of all new trademark applications lodged at the UIBM. Among the leading filers were Ferrari, although they were behind the Italian National Lottery, the Franciacorta wine region consortium and Italian Post.
| Applicants | ||||
| 1. LOTTERIE NAZIONALI | 93 | |||
| 2. CONSORZIO PER LA TUTELA DEL FRANCIACORTA | 82 | |||
| 3. POSTE ITALIANE | 73 | |||
| 4. REVITALCONCEPT | 63 | |||
| 5. COOP ITALIA SOCIETA’ COOPERATIVA | 57 | |||
| 6. FERRARI | 52 | |||
| 7. LABROZZI ANGELO | 39 | |||
| 8. TACCOLINI | 33 | |||
| 9. MARINELLI DAMIANO | 30 | |||
| 10. INTESA SANPAOLO | 30 | |||
| 11. LUXOTTICA GROUP | 30 | |||
| 12. IL SOLE 24 ORE | 28 | |||
| 13. GESSI | 28 | |||
| 14. BPER BANCA | 27 | |||
| 15. HONG LIWAN | 27 | |||
| 16. AZIENDA VINICOLA ATTILIO CONTINI | 25 | |||
| 17. CA AUTO BANK | 24 | |||
| 18. NUOVO MOLINO DI ASSISI | 21 | |||
| 19. DUESAPHARM | 19 | |||
| 20. UNICREDIT | 19 | |||
| 21. S.F. GROUP | 19 | |||
| 22. RAMPI UNGAR PAOLO | 19 | |||
| 23. ERBAGIL | 19 | |||
| 24. MINERVA PICTURES GROUP | 18 | |||
| 25.FERRERO | 17 |
| Representatives | ||||
| 1. BUGNION | 732 | |||
| 2. BARZANÒ & ZANARDO | 626 | |||
| 3. JACOBACCI & PARTNERS | 552 | |||
| 4. DR. MODIANO & ASSOCIATI | 485 | |||
| 5. SCIARRA LORENZO | 381 | |||
| 6. LA MALFA ENRICO TINDARO | 347 | |||
| 7. SOCIETÀ ITALIANA BREVETTI | 311 | |||
| 8. D’ANGELO RAFFAELE | 283 | |||
| 9. CONSULMARCHI | 277 | |||
| 10. STUDIO TORTA | 275 | |||
| 11. ING. CLAUDIO BALDI | 269 | |||
| 12. GIAMBROCONO & C. | 211 | |||
| 13. GLP | 192 | |||
| 14. DRAGOTTI & ASSOCIATI | 161 | |||
| 15. PRAXI INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | 152 | |||
| 16. CANTALUPPI & PARTNERS | 141 | |||
| 17. BRUNACCI & PARTNERS | 131 | |||
| 18. PERANI & PARTNERS | 128 | |||
| 19. ING. C. CORRADINI & C. | 117 | |||
| 20. MONDIAL MARCHI | 107 | |||
| 21. A.BRE.MAR | 100 | |||
| 22. G.D. DI GRAZIA D’ALTO & C. | 95 | |||
| 23. DE SIMONE & PARTNERS | 91 | |||
| 24. DIMITRI RUSSO | 90 | |||
| 25. CON LOR | 85 |
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
Spain – Trademark applications
Spain receives around 50,000 trademark applications a year and filing activity has been relatively stable in recent years. Unlike other registers, Spain did not see a major increase in 2021; however a significant fall in trademark filing volume took place in 2022. Filing volume recovered in 2023, increasing by 8%
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
Spanish representatives provide the attorney/individual name when a trademark application is filed at the Spanish trademark office (OEPM – Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas), making it difficult to determine which law firm is the representative for a given application or how many applications are filed by major IP legal practices.
| Applicants | ||||
| 1. CORPORACIÓN DE RADIO TELEVISIÓN ESPAÑOLA | 113 | |||
| 2. AYUNTAMIENTO DE MADRID | 64 | |||
| 3. UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID | 49 | |||
| 4. HEINEKEN ESPAÑA | 39 | |||
| 5. MAHOU | 34 | |||
| 6. LABORATORIOS CINFA | 32 | |||
| 7. RESIDENCIAS DE ESTUDIANTES | 32 | |||
| 8. ATRESMEDIA CORPORACION DE MEDIOS DE COMUNICACION | 28 | |||
| 9. CONFEDERACIÓN PROVINCIAL DE EMPRESARIOS DE SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE (CEOE TENERIFE) | 27 | |||
| 10. KUTXA FUNDAZIOA | 26 | |||
| 11. EROSKI, S. COOP. | 25 | |||
| 12. EBRO FOODS | 24 | |||
| 13. DORMITORIUM | 23 | |||
| 14. LABORATORIOS NORMON | 23 | |||
| 15. JORQUES CATALUÑA ANTONIO | 22 | |||
| 16. NATURAL D’MEZCLAS | 21 | |||
| 17. GARAY MORENO | 20 | |||
| 18. COBERTURA YAMADORI | 20 | |||
| 19. GRUPO AUDIOVISUAL MEDIASET ESPAÑA COMUNICACIÓN | 20 | |||
| 20. WECAMP FUTURE | 19 | |||
| 21. ZITRO LABORATORY | 19 | |||
| 22. H. SANTOS D. | 19 | |||
| 23. FAES FARMA | 18 | |||
| 24. INSTITUTO EUROPEO DE POSTGRADO EN ADMINISTRACIÓN Y DIRECCIÓN DE EMPRESAS | 18 | |||
| 25. EITB MEDIA | 17 |
| Representatives | ||||
| 1. ONOFRE INDALECI SAEZ MENCHON | 1,433 | |||
| 2. JAVIER UNGRÍA LÓPEZ | 899 | |||
| 3. ÁNGEL PONS ARIÑO | 738 | |||
| 4. JORGE ISERN JARA | 567 | |||
| 5. GUSTAVO ADOLFO GONZÁLEZ PECES | 403 | |||
| 6. ELZABURU, S.L.P | 382 | |||
| 7. SONIA DEL VALLE VALIENTE | 361 | |||
| 8. ISABEL CARVAJAL Y URQUIJO | 287 | |||
| 9. ISIDRO DÍAZ DE BUSTAMANTE TERMINEL | 270 | |||
| 10. EDUARDO FERNAND PRADOS HERRADA | 259 | |||
| 11. IGNACIO URÍZAR VILLATE | 240 | |||
| 12. CARMEN BLAZQUEZ RODRIGUEZ | 219 | |||
| 13. ÓSCAR GARCÍA CORTÉS | 215 | |||
| 14. DAVID PERAL CERDÁ | 205 | |||
| 15. IGNACIO ESPIELL GÓMEZ | 204 | |||
| 16. MIGUEL SALAS MARTIN | 196 | |||
| 17. MIKEL VEIGA SERRANO | 190 | |||
| 18. NURIA ISERN JARA | 190 | |||
| 19. MANUELA COCA TORRENS | 182 | |||
| 20. IÑIGO DE ALCANT GONZÁLEZ-MOGENA GONZÁLEZ | 172 | |||
| 21. JORGE JUAN ZERPA MARRERO | 172 | |||
| 22. MARÍA S. MUÑOZ GARCÍA | 172 | |||
| 23. JOSÉ FERNANDO GALLEGO JIMÉNEZ | 169 | |||
| 24. DURAN-CORRETJER, S.L.P | 168 | |||
| 25. JOSE FANJUL ALEMANY | 168 |
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
BENELUX – Trademark applications
Benelux is a trademark register covering three neighbouring countries. The Benelux Office of Intellectual Property (BOIP) provides trademark registration for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and typically receives 20,000 applications each year.
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
The Benelux register receives applications predominantly from local brands – around 95% of applications are filed by applicants in the three member countries. Despite being the smallest of the five major national EU registers, the 2023 top filer list contains a number of well-known global brands: GSK, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Rigo Trading (Haribo), Unilever, Philips, Formula One, Karl Lagerfield.
| Applicants | ||||
| 1. GLAXOSMITHKLINE BIOLOGICALS | 71 | |||
| 2. MERCK SHARP & DOHME | 48 | |||
| 3. RIGO TRADING | 48 | |||
| 4. INTERPLANT ROSES | 46 | |||
| 5. DE RUITER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | 31 | |||
| 6. JAN SPEK ROZEN | 24 | |||
| 7. G. DE KONING BLOEMEN | 22 | |||
| 8. UCB BIOPHARMA | 20 | |||
| 9. AARDACHTIG | 19 | |||
| 10. UNILEVER | 18 | |||
| 11. KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS | 17 | |||
| 12. UNITED SPIRITS | 16 | |||
| 13. TALPA STUDIOS CONCEPTS | 15 | |||
| 14. FORMULA ONE LICENSING | 15 | |||
| 15. LIBEMA VASTGOED | 15 | |||
| 16. JADE RECHERCHE | 14 | |||
| 17. VICTRON ENERGY | 14 | |||
| 18. ANTHURA | 14 | |||
| 19. SOREMARTEC | 14 | |||
| 20. ANAND ROY CATS-DJASAI | 14 | |||
| 21. JGM CAPITAL | 13 | |||
| 22. ATHORA BELGIUM, NAAMLOZE VENNOOTSCHAP | 13 | |||
| 23. FLORALÍ LICENSING | 12 | |||
| 24. KARL LAGERFELD | 12 | |||
| 25. CLOETTA HOLLAND | 11 |
| Representatives | ||||
| 1. MERK-ECHT | 792 | |||
| 2. GEVERS | 579 | |||
| 3. MERKENBUREAU KNIJFF & PARTNERS | 526 | |||
| 4. NOVAGRAAF | 575 | |||
| 5. INTELLECTUEELEIGENDOM.NL | 405 | |||
| 6. NLO SHIELDMARK | 284 | |||
| 7. DE MERKPLAATS | 271 | |||
| 8. CHIEVER | 205 | |||
| 9. BUREAU M.F.J. BOCKSTAEL | 198 | |||
| 10. WINGER TRADEMARKS | 195 | |||
| 11. ALGEMEEN OCTROOI- EN MERKENBUREAU | 173 | |||
| 12. INTELLECTUEELEIGENDOM.BE | 173 | |||
| 13. AWA BENELUX | 169 | |||
| 14. RISE | 161 | |||
| 15. INADAY | 160 | |||
| 16. ARNOLD & SIEDSMA | 111 | |||
| 17. MERKENSPOT | 106 | |||
| 18. ABCOR | 104 | |||
| 19. DE CLERCQ & PARTNERS | 96 | |||
| 20. MERKENBUREAU BOUMA | 92 | |||
| 21. K.O.B. | 91 | |||
| 22. KIRKPATRICK | 88 | |||
| 23. PLOUM | 84 | |||
| 24. MATCHMARK | 84 | |||
| 25. HGF | 83 |
Source: CompuMark SAEGIS®
Although a European Trademark (EUTM) provides a cost-effective way to register a trademark in 27 countries, for businesses operating in just a single European country a national trademark registration in their home country may offer better value. As a result, each national trademark office in the EU is still active and receiving trademark applications at a stable rate, mostly from domestic brand owners.
About SAEGIS®
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