Common Law: Use creates rights
Jurisdictions: USA, Canada, Australia, UK
- Principle
- Trademark rights arise from actual use in commerce.
- Detail
- Registration is available and advisable but not required.
- Risks
- Your use history at home does not count for European protection. Whoever files first in Europe wins.
- Authorities
- USPTO (uspto.gov), UK IPO (gov.uk/ipo)
Continental European law: Registration creates rights
Jurisdictions: Germany, France, Spain, entire EU, Switzerland
- Principle
- Trademark rights arise through formal registration.
- Detail
- An EU trademark (EUTM) provides protection in all 27 EU member states with a single EUIPO filing.
- Risks
- Trademark trolls actively register well-known foreign brands before legitimate owners act.
- Authorities
- DPMA (dpma.de), EUIPO (euipo.europa.eu)
Asian law: Registration with strategic complexity
Jurisdictions: China (CNIPA), Japan (JPO), South Korea (KIPO)
- Principle
- All major Asian markets operate on a registration principle.
- Detail
- China has a structural problem with trademark squatters.
- Risks
- Your CNIPA or JPO registration carries no weight with the EUIPO.
- Authorities
- CNIPA (cnipa.gov.cn), JPO (jpo.go.jp)
The Madrid System: Coordinated global protection
Jurisdictions: 128 member states including EU, USA, China, Japan
- Principle
- A single international application with effect in selected member states.
- Detail
- Simplifies administration but does not replace local strategy.
- Risks
- Strategic decisions must still be guided by advisors with trademark and cultural competence.
- Authorities
- WIPO Madrid (wipo.int/madrid)
What this means for your Europe strategy
- Register in the EU and key national markets before any public signal of market entry.
- Conduct a thorough similarity search against existing EU trademark registrations.
- Commission a linguistic and cultural review across all target language markets.
- Global management consultancies advise well on business structure -- they rarely have the trademark and cultural depth European brand entry requires.
- Trademark squatters are systematic. Early registration is the only effective prevention.
Trademark risk assessment for European entry
Luenstroth reviews registrations, identifies conflict risks and develops registration strategies.
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