Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2025 submitted by EUIPO
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
A comprehensive overview of the EUIPO main policies and plans can be found on the EUIPO ONLINE website, which can be found at:
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/about-us/the-office
The EUIPO has a strategic plan in place to deliver high-value intellectual property (IP) services to citizens and businesses in an efficient and effective manner. The plan aims to foster innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth in Europe by providing reliable, legally sound, and enforceable IP rights.
The EUIPO's mission is to support the European economy by protecting and promoting IP rights, with a focus on excellence, quality, professionalism, transparency, trust, community, and inclusion. The office has five key goals:
- Optimise operational efficiency and effectiveness to maintain high performance and long-term sustainability.
- Enhance the value of IP products and services by expanding quality, consistency, and legal certainty.
- Improve access to the IP system and promote the use of IP rights to support innovation-driven economic growth in Europe.
- Build trust and respect for IP by ensuring effective enforcement and addressing IP infringement.
- Ensure the long-term sustainability of the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN) by strengthening cooperation with national and regional IP offices.
The EUIPO's strategy is driven by two complementary strategic drivers:
- Modern, high performing and resilient organisation: this driver focuses on improving the way the EUIPO works, by increasing productivity, optimising operational efficiency and effectiveness, and ensuring long-term sustainability.
- Cooperation for high-value IP services to citizens and businesses: this driver focuses on establishing effective cooperation with external stakeholders, including national and regional IP offices, user associations, and other organisations, to provide high-value IP services and support the development of the EU's IP ecosystem.
To support the implementation of its strategy, the EUIPO has identified three organisational enablers:
- People, technology and work environment: this enabler focuses on creating an environment where people, technology, and the workplace come together to drive innovation, productivity, and success, by enhancing organisational engagement, talent management, and continuous development.
- Financial and administrative sustainability: this enabler focuses on ensuring the EUIPO's long-term financial sustainability, by maintaining a balanced budget, optimising financial operations, and ensuring transparency and accountability.
- Network engagement: this enabler focuses on promoting a strategic reorientation of the EUIPN towards long-term sustainability, by strengthening common standards and practices, and enhancing cooperation with national and regional IP offices, user associations, and other stakeholders.
To achieve its goals, the EUIPO will focus on six priority impact areas:
- Customer and Quality: enhancing the customer experience and delivering innovative IP products and services.
- Awareness and Education: supporting a greater understanding of IP matters in Europe and beyond.
- Promotion of Innovation: fostering value creation and promoting IP as a tool for growth and sustainable development.
- Inclusive IP Landscape: making all types of IP in the EU accessible to all and promoting diversity and inclusion.
- Enforcement: ensuring trust and respect for IP rights and combating IP infringement.
- IP Alliances: evolving from a network to a community and promoting international cooperation and partnerships.
The EUIPO will work closely with national and regional IP offices, user associations, and other stakeholders to implement its strategic plan and achieve its goals. The office will also leverage technology and innovation to improve its services and operations, and to support the development of a robust, inclusive, diverse, and sustainable IP ecosystem.
For more information on the SP2030, please go to the following link:
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/about-us/governance/strategic-plan
- Main areas of trade mark and design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
The EUIPO aims to use ICT practices to improve the customer experience, increase transparency and predictability, and provide better services to users.
Some key ICT practices mentioned in this section include:
- Use of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) to enhance examination activities, support decision-making and improve operational efficiency.
- Continuous development of new IT solutions, functionalities and working methods to improve the processing of EU trademarks and designs.
- Development of advanced case management approaches, including structured allocation of cases to specialised examiner teams to improve consistency and efficiency.
- Development of pre-assessment and pre-filing solutions to improve predictability and reduce uncertainty for users.
- Integration of classification support tools within filing workflows to provide guidance to users prior to submission.
- Creation and further development of digital platforms supporting inter partes proceedings, enabling automated tools, improved user interaction and support for amicable settlements.
- Enhancement of transparency and access to IP information, including increased availability of design-related data.
- Development of collaborative environments within the EUIPN to share knowledge, best practices and common solutions.
- Development of digital solutions supporting new EU competencies, including geographical indications and related registers.
- Expansion of digital communication channels and audiovisual tools to improve user engagement and awareness.
- Further development of enforcement-related digital environments to enhance cooperation with stakeholders.
- Exploration of emerging technologies such as big data and blockchain to enhance IP services and cooperation.
- Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
Please find below the links to the most important sources of information with respect to statistics in both the trade mark and design area:
- The Annual report
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/news-and-events/publications/annual-report
- The Work Programme
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/news-and-events/publications/work-programme
- Statistics on trade mark and design activities
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/about-us/the-office/who-we-are/transparency-portal
- Customer Service Charter
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/about-us/the-office/what-we-do/quality/customer-service-charter
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
- Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/trade-marks
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/designs
- Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Trade marks: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/trade-marks/how-to-apply/apply-now
Designs: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/designs/how-to-apply/apply-now
- Matters concerning classifying
- Information on our practices in respect to Goods and Services:
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/trade-marks/before-applying/goods-and-services
- Information on our practices in respect to Indication of Product:
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/designs/before-applying/product-indication
- Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
- TMclass: The one-stop classification gateway to the Harmonised Database applied in the EU and other offices worldwide.
- Similarity: Assessment of the similarity between goods and services by IP Offices in the EU.
- DesignClass: Compare the design classification databases of the participating offices.
https://euipo.europa.eu/designclass/
- Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.).ç
- Please find further information on all types of EU trade marks here:
https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/trade-marks/before-applying/types-of-trade-marks
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
EUIPO provides trademark information primarily through online services. The main publication platform is eSearch plus, which provides comprehensive information on trademarks, designs, owners, representatives, Bulletins and Office decisions in one single application. Other relevant online information products include TMview (search of participating national, regional and international trademark registers), Tmclass (goods and services classification & search), eSearch Case Law (Office decisions and court judgments), the EUIPO Guidelines, and legal information available on the EUIPO website.
eSearch plus: https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/
eSearch CaseLaw: https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearchCLW/
TMView https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/#/tmview
TMclass: https://euipo.europa.eu/ec2/
Main types of publications in the field of trademark information
- The European Union Trademark Bulletin is published electronically and is accessible through eSearch plus. It contains trademark application publications, registrations, renewals, amendments, transfers, cancellations and other official notices relating to EUTMs.
Available via eSearch plus at https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#advanced/bulletins
- Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online (URL), etc.
Electronic publications are issued on working days in accordance with EUIPO publication schedules. No paper or CD versions are produced.
Available via eSearch Plus at https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#advanced/bulletins
- Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
EUIPO examiners use internal examination systems together with the same core databases available publicly, including eSearch plus, TMview, TMclass, DESIGNview, DESIGNclass, Similarity, GIview and eSearch Case Law. They also have access to internal examination tools, legal resources and documentation supporting examination and decision-making. Publicly available information on these databases is provided through the EUIPO Search IP Databases portal. EUIPO examiners have access to internet resources.
Search IP databases: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/search-ip
- Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Most information services are available free of charge through the EUIPO website. These include eSearch plus, TMview, DESIGNview, TMclass, DESIGNclass, Similarity, GIview, eSearch Case Law, the Guidelines, and search tools. Online filing and portfolio management are available through the User Area (registration required). Certain certified documents or official extracts may require payment of prescribed fees.
- Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Legal status information is available online through eSearch plus. Use of the TM5 Common Status Descriptors. Information available at the following link: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/feedback/esearch-status-info
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
- Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office:
The EUIPO uses integrated software solutions supporting the end-to-end electronic management of EU trademarks and designs, covering filing, examination, opposition, registration, cancellation and appeals.
In 2025, these systems continue to evolve through increased automation and the incorporation of advanced technologies to improve performance and internal workflows.
Dedicated IT systems are also being deployed to support new areas of activity, notably in relation to geographical indications and related registers.
Commercial off-the-shelf tools are used for administrative processes such as finance and human resources management.
- Hardware used to support business processes of the Office
The EUIPO operates a hybrid IT infrastructure combining internal data centres with cloud services, ensuring resilience, scalability and business continuity.
The Office continues to optimise its infrastructure, including working towards a strategy for migration of systems to EU cloud environments, improved data management and strengthened cybersecurity capabilities.
All staff operate in a digital working environment supported by standardised hardware and software solutions.
- Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
The EUIPO maintains comprehensive databases covering trademarks, designs, geographical indications and case law, continuously updated and interconnected with external sources through cooperation with national, regional and international partners.
These databases support operational processes and enable enhanced analysis and forecasting.
- Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file
The EUIPO provides a range of online search tools allowing users to access information on trade marks, designs, geographical indications and case law, developed in cooperation with participating IP offices.
These tools are continuously enhanced, improving data availability and accessibility, including for design information.
- Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
The Office operates fully digital systems supporting registers, legal status information and statistical reporting.
These systems are supported by data-driven analytics and improved forecasting methods to enhance operational planning and decision-making.
- Other matters
The EUIPO continues to advance its digital transformation by optimising IT operations, reinforcing cybersecurity and ensuring compliance with data protection and regulatory requirements.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Office’s library: equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
The EUIPO Library consists of a physical facility on EUIPO premises, which includes 6 workstations, a consultation area and reception. This library also has a digital library catalogue known as the Knowledge Hub. The library is for internal EUIPO staff. In 2024 the Academy held the third International Library Day in the Wubbo de Boer Interactive Centre.
The library holds 23 797 items, both physical and electronic of which 4 785 are IP books; 9 471 are IP bulletins, journals and reviews; 456 WIPO publications; 6 IP databases; 168 EUIPO publications and 93 IP related works and dissertations of EUIPO Trainees. The EUIPO Library is a member of EUROLIB, the European Community and Associated Institutions Library Co-operation Group.
Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Check on EUIPO ONLINE at https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/online-services
Academic Initiatives
Pan-European Seal
At the end of 2025 the Pan-European Seal Programme (PES) reached 178 partner universities from all EU countries and 11 EPC member states cooperating with the EUIPO and the EPO. The EUIPO is also collaborating with 7 Universities outside the EU/EPC via bilateral agreements, namely with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Tanzania. Approximately 90 high-achieving graduates benefited from a year-long, paid traineeship at the EUIPO in the 2024-2025 edition of the PES programme. Together with the Young Professionals programme, a total of 110 trainees were welcomed at the EUIPO.
During this traineeship, in addition to the on-the-job training and the professional experience gained at the EUIPO, trainees were invited to attend several major events:
- EUIPO Trainees Orientation Programme (ETOP);
- EUIPO Intensive IP Educational Programme (IIPEP) (open to all PES Universities as well);
- EUIPO Trainees’ Career Event, where different career paths and future career prospects were presented by the PES Alumni and the Talent Bank Associated Partners.
For 2026-27, the EUIPO Academy would like to explore the possibility of cooperating more with WIPO in the various academic initiatives mentioned below (and in particular a trainee programme with WIPO .)
Post-traineeship professional opportunities:
Exchange Programme
It allows PES trainees that are currently working at the EUIPO to apply for an exchange opportunity and second traineeship at the European Patent Office (EPO), and for the EPO Pan-European Seal trainees to apply for an exchange traineeship at the EUIPO. Since the inception of the programme and until end of 2025 53 EPO trainees have been welcomed at the EUIPO and 103 EUIPO trainees at the EPO respectively creating a strong collaboration between the 2 Offices and disseminate IP and its awareness among youngsters.
Talent Bank
This is an online platform that allows public and private partners, including law and consultancy firms, companies, EU and international organisations, national institutions, and universities to offer traineeships and/or jobs to the EUIPO Trainees alumni seeking further career opportunities following their traineeship at the EUIPO. In 2025 the total number of associated partners reached 37, and more than 140 job offers have been published in the tool since its inception.
Additional activities within the Network of Intellectual Property Academies (NIPA)
NIPA Annual meeting
The Network of IP Academies (NIPA) consists of the PES university members, the Talent Bank Associate Partners and the national IP offices. EU institutions and European university networks can also join as observers. NIPA members meet once a year to discuss an overview of the year that has passed, the traineeship programme, improvements and additional synergies that can occur between them via common projects with the EUIPO. The idea is that this event takes place after newly adopted EUIPO projects are communicated and shared with NIPA members. The Annual meeting was held on 3-4 December 2025 in a hybrid format at the EUIPO premises with more than 200 participants with very positive feedback.
Major IP and non-IP events
The fourth edition of the EUIPO Intensive IP Educational Programme (IIPEP) offered for free to all the PES Universities’ students and the EU National IP Offices, in collaboration with WIPO, EPO, CPVO, European Commission DG AGRI, and DG RTD, lasted 10 days including sessions on trade marks, designs, plant varieties, geographical indications and patents with almost 2 000 registered participants and with an average of 800 connections per session.
In 2025, two Regional IP Seminars were organised. “Evolving IP Landscapes”, held in Helsinki, Finland, in May in hybrid modality, addressed current developments in IP practice, recent case-law and practical examples linked to EUIPO practice. 138 participants attended the event, which received a 96% satisfaction rating.
“A journey through IP modern challenges”, held in Lisbon, Portugal, in October in hybrid modality, focused on contemporary IP challenges, including distinctiveness and descriptiveness, craft and industrial geographical indications, collective marks and certification marks. 234 participants attended the event, which received a 91% satisfaction rating from external participants.
The IP Seminar on Designs: Fashion and Sustainability was held online in April. It addressed design protection from the perspective of fashion and sustainability through expert contributions, panel discussions and short interviews. The event was followed by 265 participants and received a 92.7% satisfaction rating.
The EUIPO Trainees’ Career Event 2025, took place presentially at the EUIPO premises where different career paths and future career prospects were presented with more than 150 participants from different areas: current trainees met former PES Trainees (PES Alumni) representing their current employers (e.g. Law firms, companies, EU Institutions, International Organisations etc.). At the same event, the trainees received presentations by the Academy and the Talent Management Departments on how to draft their CVs, motivation letters and they are introduced to the Talent Bank tool and the Talent Bank Associated Partners are also presenting and introducing their Offices.
Tuesday IP webinars have improved the IP knowledge of IP practitioners on general IP matters and making latest trends in IP and the EUIPO’s practice more accessible to them. The Academy has led this by developing and sharing its pedagogical expertise, and by optimising the marketing of webinars. By the end of 2025, a total of 18 webinars were organised, mostly addressing IP practice. In addition, a further Cineforum webinar was organised in collaboration with CEIPI before the summer..With more than 17,000 participants in the 15 webinars held in 2025 the participation rised significantly with a general satisfaction of almost 90%
School and University visits
6 Virtual School Visits were organised, with an average satisfaction rate of 80%. A total of 192 students between 12 and 18 years old attended.. As for the Virtual University Visits, 298 students participated in the 4 visits organized in 2025. These sessions obtained an overall satisfaction rate of 86%.
Education Programmes
The ETMD EP for Practitioners 2026/2027 programme (5th edition) will start in October 2026 and is already fully booked (60 participants). The programme will run in 2026 and early 2027 including more than 20 short IP learning sessions and two in person IP labs consisting of practical activities.
Currently the office has more than 50 different wallets. Their content is currently under revision. The LW on IP matters are available in the EUIPO website for everyone.
e-learning content in the EUIPO Academy Learning Portal
In 2025, significant efforts were dedicated to the creation and publication of courses presenting the Office's core competencies to a broad public audience. "EU design in a nutshell" was launched in May, coinciding with the new Design Legislation, followed later in the year by "CIGIs in a nutshell". Work also began on "EUTM in a nutshell", scheduled for release in 2026.
On the platform side, the EUIPO Academy Learning Portal welcomed more than 5,000 new account creations in 2025 and nearly 6,000 users enrolled across over 713 learning activities. The catalogue grew by 53 new courses during the year, while existing learning materials were curated and organised into dedicated collections to better serve audiences seeking information on Copyright, Geographical Indications, EU Design Legal Reform and TTOs.
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
As part of the new SP2030, the EUIPO is actively working on enhancing the global IP ecosystem with international partners, the development of high impact projects and the promotion of innovative solutions. Building on its extensive international cooperation network, the EUIPO, together with the EU IP Network (https://www.euipn.org) is working to create a high-level IP dialogue platform to discuss emerging issues of common interest, leading to the formation of an agile IP alliance among like-minded organisations to share ideas, perspectives and best practices to further develop the global IP system. In this regard, the EUIPO is fostering strategic partnerships with leading IP organisations, user associations, business support organisations and financial institutions to tackle common challenges. This alliance works on emerging issues such as IP-backed financing, inclusiveness, and the exchange of data, knowledge and professionals.
The EUIPO also cooperates with other regional and international organisations, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO).
In addition, the EUIPO participates in the TM5 and ID5 forums, which bring together the five largest offices in the world in volume of trade marks and designs (CNIPA, EUIPO, JPO, KIPO and USPTO) to exchange information and collaborate on projects of interest to their users. In 2027, EUIPO will be the host and secretariat of TM5 and ID5. The Annual Meeting will take place in Alicante with the 5 largest trade mark offices.
The EUIPO works in close cooperation with the European Commission to support the implementation of EU policies, promoting robust intellectual property systems outside the EU. During 2025 the EUIPO was implementing 8 EU-funded projects outside Europe. The projects are IP Key China II, SCOPE IPR, IP Key South-East Asia II, EU4IP, AfrIPI, AL-INVEST Verde IPR, cariPI II, and EU-RoK IP Action.
Through these initiatives and partnerships, the EUIPO contributes to the strengthening of IP systems worldwide. Its work focuses on the following areas:
- Provide technical assistance to digitalize registries and provide access to information on trade marks and designs, as well as classification tools, such as: TMview, DesignView, TMclassand DesignClass.
- Capacity building of a wide range of stakeholders from IP Offices, enforcement entities, business support organizations, SMEs, producer groups of origin-linked products, control bodies and civil society.
- Promote IP education in schools and higher education sectors.
- Provide information and support to small and medium sized businesses.
Raise the awareness of specific stakeholder groups or society at large about the value of IP.
VII. ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIPO STANDARDS CONCERNING TRADEMARK INFORMATION
WIPO Standard ST.2: Standard manner for designating calendar dates by using the Gregorian calendar
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.3: Recommended standard on two-letter codes for the representation of states, other entities and intergovernmental organizations
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.13: Recommendation for the numbering of applications for industrial property rights (IPRs)
Implemented, with some necessary customization, as per some IP Offices practices.
WIPO Standard ST.60: Recommendation concerning bibliographic data relating to marks
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.61: Recommendation for the exchange of trademark legal status data
No plan to implement
WIPO Standard ST.62: Recommendation concerning standard abbreviation for “Vienna Classification”
No plan to implement
WIPO Standard ST.63: Recommendation concerning the content and layout of trademark gazettes
Implemented (partly, the publications of EU trademarks are done daily and only on the web in electronic format - PDF files)
WIPO Standard ST.64: Recommended search files for trademark search
Partly implemented
EUIPO's electronic search infrastructure substantially covers the search files recommended in WIPO Standard ST.64, although the Office has not published a formal statement of compliance.
WIPO Standard ST.66: Recommendation for the processing of trademark information using XML (extensible markup language)
Implemented, with some necessary customization to align with EUIPO business practices.
WIPO Standard ST.67: Recommendations for the electronic management of the figurative elements of trademarks
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.68: Recommendations for the electronic management of sound marks
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.69: Recommendation for the electronic management of motion and multimedia marks
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.90: Recommendation for processing and communicating intellectual property data using web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
Implemented (EUIPO external-facing APIs follow most of the recommendations described in the standard)
WIPO Standard ST.91: Recommendations on digital three-dimensional (3D) models and 3D images
Implemented (further alignment with the standard after the EU design legislative reform)
WIPO Standard ST.92: Recommendations on the data package format for the electronic exchange of priority documents
Planning to implement (only in the context of EU Designs)
WIPO Standard ST.96: Recommendation for the processing of intellectual property information using XML (extensible markup language)
Implemented (only in the context of International Designs)
WIPO Standard ST.97: Recommendation for processing of intellectual property data using JSON
Planning to implement (the on-going ST.97 improvements in the context of the API Task Force will facilitate the adoption of this standard when the relevant use case is identified).