Have a business idea and want to create your own workplace? Are you already in the process of starting a new business? Developing a market and selling online but need to protect your name, logo and designs? There is a lot of innovation and creativity in Spain, both nationally and locally, but did you know that many of Europe’s trade secrets are guarded from an office complex in Alicante on Costa Blanca?
We humans invent products and start companies at a faster rate than ever before in history. In order to survive in the long run, it is important to stand out from the crowd. A good idea, a good product or a unique service is a good start, but often not sufficient in itself. Products and services can be made even better and more recognizable, for example through a good logo, appealing product design or functional packaging. And it is important to make sure that no one steals your work. In all these areas, the EU body for the protection of intellectual property rights can offer assistance.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) registers and protects trademarks and designs and ensures that EU copyright law is complied with in all 27 EU countries (but they also work to protect and enforcing rights related to domain names, copyright, counterfeiting, goods in transit or anti-scam and misleading invoices and more). In 2020 they received almost 180,000 trademark filings and more than 115,000 design applications (including international registrations) from about 200 countries worldwide. And, according to their annual report “The Office ranked as the most innovative IP office (IPO) in the world for three years in a row (2017, 2018 and 2019) in the list of the leading 50 IPOs across the world developed by the World Trademark Review (WTR).”
EUIPO is also responsible for monitoring breaches of EU copyright law – and that includes Louis Vuitton handbags and Rolex watches that you and many others may have been offered at remarkably low prices.
Already established luxury goods are of course in danger of losing money and reputation when far cheaper imitations of inferior quality than the originals are sold, but new products without any established market may need protection as well.
As mentioned, the EUIPO are responsible for a range of tasks administering trademark and design rights throughout the EU area. To give you an idea, the number of staff who have their daily work in Alicante is almost 1,100 and they come from almost every corner of the globe. The Office actually has five working languages – English, French, German, Italian and Spanish – and they process applications in 23 official EU languages. So if you like an international environment, this is an interesting place.
Top ten countries filing for Trademark protection
Top ten countries filing for Design protection
Rankings are from the EUIPO 2020 annual report.
If you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, the office can, for example, help you get exclusive rights to your inventions throughout the EU area. To explore EUIPO’s own webpages and learn more about both trademarks and designs and how you can protect both, see: EUIPO Website.
EUIPO offices in Alicante helps businesses, companies and organizations protect their copyrights. Interested in finding out how you can protect your own designs, trademarks or inventions? Here is the link to a help page that explains how to fill out an EUIPO application: “File an error free application!“.
But, just to be clear, this is not the European Patent Office which is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
Featured image: Source: Pixabay, Image by mohamed Hassan.
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