TM Atlas

EU trademark or national trademark for Amazon Europe sellers

Selling on Amazon.de puts you in Germany, and Germany has two registers that can stop you: the EU one and the German one. Here is how they overlap and how to check both at once.

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European Amazon sellers run into a layer that does not exist in the United States: two levels of trademark that both apply at once.

The two levels

An EU trademark, registered at EUIPO, is one registration valid in all member states. A national trademark, registered at the DPMA in Germany, INPI in France, UIBM in Italy or OEPM in Spain, is valid in that country only.

Both are enforceable on Amazon. A German company with a DPMA mark and no EU mark can have your Amazon.de listing removed just as effectively as a company with an EU mark. Sellers who check only EUIPO miss the national layer entirely, and the national layer is where most older, established brands live.

Why Germany first

Amazon.de is the largest European marketplace, and the DPMA register is among the biggest national registers in the world. It also holds many marks that were never extended to the EU level because the owners only ever traded in Germany. A name that looks free across the EU can be taken in Germany, and Germany is where you sell most.

France and Italy follow the same pattern with INPI and UIBM. Spain with OEPM.

Check all levels in one search

Type the name into the search above and set the territories to EU, DE, FR, IT and ES, or to whichever marketplaces you list on. The search runs EUIPO and the national registers together and marks each result with the register it came from. A live mark in your class from any of them is a conflict in that country.

For the class, use the one your products sit in. The class pages on this site map common marketplace categories to their Nice classes.

If you decide to file

An EU mark is the efficient choice when you sell in several countries and no similar national mark exists. If the search shows a similar national mark in one country, an EU application can be opposed on that basis, so either pick another name or file nationally in the countries where the name is clear. Either way, the check comes first and the filing second. Sellers who file first find out about the national mark from the opposition, after they have paid.

Fair questions

If a name is free at EUIPO, can I use it in Germany?

Not necessarily. A German national mark at the DPMA can block you in Germany even when no EU mark exists. The same goes for INPI in France, UIBM in Italy and OEPM in Spain.

Does an EU trademark protect me in the UK?

Not since 2021. EU marks registered before then were cloned into UK marks; new EU marks do not cover the UK. Check UKIPO separately if you sell on Amazon.co.uk.

Which is better to file, EU or national?

If you sell in three or more EU countries, one EU mark is usually cheaper than three national marks. If a similar national mark already exists in one country, an EU application can be opposed by it, which is one more reason to check the national registers first.

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