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Does an EU trademark have to be used in commerce before registration?

Senior Trademark Attorney

No. The EUIPO does not require evidence of commercial use at the time of application. You can file an EU trademark before launching commercially in the EU market.

However, an EU trademark that is not put to genuine use in the EU within five years of registration becomes vulnerable to cancellation for non-use. A third party can apply to have the registration cancelled if it has not been used in commerce for any continuous five-year period without valid reasons. The requirement to use the mark is a post-registration obligation, not a pre-registration one.

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