European trademark attorney
European Trademark Attorneys (or European Trade Mark Attorneys) are specialized representatives for trade marks Trademark and service marks, authorized to practice before the European Trade Mark Office (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market - OHIM: see OHIM's website 1).
European Trademark Attorneys are also authorized to practice before at least one national trademark Office in the European Union. Others are authorized to practice before several Offices, thereby serving clients in several countries and providing advices based on compared law.
The main tasks of European Trademark Attorneys are:
- determining if a trademark can be protected, based on the legal criteria for acceptance of trademarks
- conducting preliminary and in-depth (similarity) trademark searches
- defining filing strategy for trade marks, including a proposal for a list of goods and services
- filing and prosecuting trademark applications
- defending their client's applications against oppositions by third parties
- watching younger trademarks that may harm their client's rights
- intervening against potential breaches on their client's rights, including by sending cease-and-desist letters, introducing oppositions and, if required, managing legal actions.
Services of Trademark Attorneys are not required for filing a trademark. Said services are however useful in order to analyze the existing trademarks, propose a strategy and a description of goods and services, and more GeneRally to provide legal advices regarding trademark matters.
The complete list of European Trademark Attorneys can be found at OHIM's website and can be searches through a dedicated database: