How do I renew my trade mark?

Renewal is possible unlimited times, each time for ten years

A mark is renewed at the office where it is registered: BOIP for a Benelux mark, EUIPO for a European Union mark. This is done by filing a renewal application before the expiry date and paying the associated fee. A registration is valid for a period of ten years each time, and that period can be renewed again and again — there is no maximum number of times. As long as the renewal takes place on time, the mark remains protected and nothing else changes regarding the rights already attached to it.

If a renewal is missed, the registration lapses. The mark then disappears from the register and the protection attached to it ceases. From that moment on, the name or logo is again freely available to others — a third party can register the same or a similar name, and the original owner then has no basis to oppose it. It is therefore not the case that a once registered mark is fixed forever: the expiry date is a hard deadline, and what happens after that depends on who registers first again.

As shown in the registers of BOIP and EUIPO

Both BOIP and EUIPO maintain a public register in which the status of each mark is visible, including whether a registration is still valid or has lapsed. Both offices also describe the renewal procedure on their own platform: at which office that application should be filed, and that the registration period