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If you are self-employed, you may not want your company to be directly associated with your name. And the next question you ask yourself is: How to register a trademark in Spain? This article explains how to do it, what advantages it has, how much it costs to register your trademark, what you can do if someone else has registered your trademark before, and what related scams you should avoid.

How to register a trademark in Spain?

To obtain a commercial name and thus be known by it instead of your name in commercial relations, you will need to go to the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and register the name you want to use as a commercial name. Also, this is where you can register a trademark if you want one of your products to be different from the rest.

The brand is a sign that serves to distinguish products and/or services in the market, while the commercial name serves to distinguish a company in economic traffic.

Advantages of registering a trademark

The fundamental advantage of the trademark over the commercial name is that the first is internationally recognized so that it can be extended to other countries by legally determined procedures. For example, the Community trademark is not the Community trade name, which could only be protected country by country in each state separately.

The main advantages of having your brand registered are:

– Right to exclusive use of the brand or trade name.

– You can prohibit the use of that sign by third parties, thus avoiding confusion in the market.

– You could ask for compensation for damages suffered.

– With the concession, it gains value, becoming an equity asset of the company.

In addition, the expense of registering a trademark in the Patent and Trademark Registry will always be less burdensome than the cost assumed by filing legal actions to claim the nullity of the trademark and the substantiation of the consequent civil lawsuit.

How much does it cost to register a trademark in Spain?

You may be looking online to see if it is possible to register your trademark for free. We are sorry to say no! Trademark registrations are not free, even if you do the procedure yourself.

As we discussed before, you can process the registration through the Electronic Headquarters of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. Also, you can do it through the European office EUIPO.Usually, the first time you request your trademark registration, it will cost you €150.45, although there is a discount if you do it electronically, and it will stay at €127.88 (prices updated 2023). The following requested registrations cost about €97.48, and with the discount, they will cost €82.84 for each registration.

What do I do if someone else has registered my trademark?

You should know that the trademark is not yours until you register it in the Trademark Registry. That is, it is yours from the moment of registration, and you can use it exclusively. If you do not carry out these precautions, it is possible that another company, competition or not of yours, uses it or registers it in its name.

But could something be done in that case? The Law has provided different mechanisms to protect your rights. We will see what they are and in which cases you can claim them.

1. The same brand and name

It may be the case that you are using your company name as a trademark. In this case, it is much more difficult for a third party to take over your brand. The Law establishes that you cannot register a trademark identical or similar to the company name of a company or activity without the prior authorization of the representative or entrepreneur of said activity.

This mechanism is often used when the use of your brand by third parties can confuse customers. If you do not cause the confusion mentioned above, that is, customers can differentiate your products from those of that third person, you must be careful. The courts could force you to agree to that third party’s use of your brand.

2. Notorious trademark

Another different case is that the brand created is not the same as the company name. In this case, you can show that the brand created by you is notorious in the market. That is, it is generally known and associated with your products by customers. You can claim that if you have a good volume of sales or have achieved great prestige.

But this notoriety cannot occur only in your locality. Sometimes people must know you throughout the Spanish territory or in an important part of it.

Therefore, to avoid these unnecessary risks, be sure to register your trademark in the Trademark Registry as soon as possible. And we recommend doing so even if your brand is the same as your company name or is considered a well-known brand.

Online fraud: payment requests for your trademark

Suppose you obtained the registration of a trademark that you have applied to the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, and you have received a letter from a European company requesting the payment of an amount to include your trademark in an international trademark catalogue. In that case, you will have to be careful, as it may be a fraudulent action. 

Your question will surely be to know whether or not it is an official body or if payment is mandatory since the one who directs you the letter already has your company’s data. But this is not the case. Your data appears in the letter because when you obtain a trademark, said information is published and visible to third parties. Therefore, in these cases, you do not have to pay the amount requested. For more convenience and security, you can consult the website of EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office), which is responsible for trademarks, and where they publish a notice warning of these illegal practices.

Users are receiving an increasing amount of unsolicited mail from companies requesting payment for trademark and design services such as publication, registration or entry in business directories.

A searchable list of the firms or registers that users have complained of as having sent misleading invoices is published below (along with copies of the actual invoices) for your information. Please note that these services are not connected with any official trademark or design registration service provided by public bodies within the European Union, such as the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

You can browse through the list of invoices below or search directly by sender name in the “Quick Search” box.

If you receive a letter or invoice, please check carefully what is being offered to you and whether its source is genuine.

If you have any doubts or if you identify any new cases, please check with your legal advisors or contact us.

If you want to see the models they offer on their website, you can check them from this link.

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