Register a trade mark for a bakery

A bakery falls under multiple classes in the Nice Classification

A trademark for a bakery — the name, the logo, or both — can be registered as a Benelux trademark with the BOIP or as a European Union trademark with the EUIPO. What is distinctive about a bakery is that protection typically does not remain within a single class: the products themselves (bread, pastries, cakes) fall under a different category in the Nice Classification than the services around them, such as running a shop or lunch room and the sale of those products. If someone selects only the product class while the business also provides services, part of the protection is left uncovered — and vice versa.

Before anything is filed, it is worthwhile to check whether the name is already being used by another bakery or another business in a similar class. A conflict search against the public registers of the BOIP and the EUIPO provides an indication of this — not a guarantee, because a register changes continuously and a search is a snapshot in time. If that search comes back clear, then filing itself is a matter of selecting the correct classes according to the Nice Classification and submitting the application via your own account at the BOIP or EUIPO. If a similar name does turn out to exist, that is something to investigate first — for example via a trademark attorney — before investing time and money in an application.

What this is based on: the Nice Classification and the registers of the BOIP and EUIPO

The division into goods and services comes from the Nice Classification of the WIPO, which is used by both the BOIP and the EUIPO to categorize applications. The public registers of these two offices are where existing trademarks — and thus possible conflicts — can be found.