Can I register a trade mark myself?

Self-filing is possible, directly with the BOIP or EUIPO

Yes, registering a trademark yourself is possible: an application for the Benelux goes through the BOIP, an application for the entire European Union goes through the EUIPO. Both offices offer their own application system in which an entrepreneur with a free account can file a name or logo themselves, without needing an agent in between. The application then comes in the name of the client, and they remain responsible for what has been entered.

Where things often go wrong is not in the filing itself — that is simply a matter of filling in a form — but in the choices before and after. The class selection from the Nice Classification determines which products or services the trademark will protect, and an incorrect or overly broad choice is not automatically corrected by the office. Also, it is not always checked beforehand whether a similar name already exists somewhere in the register, which means an application can be opposed by an existing trademark holder. And after registration, attention often stops, whereas monitoring a trademark and renewing it on time are just as much part of 'doing it yourself' as the application itself.

What this is based on: the systems of the BOIP and EUIPO

That independent filing is possible follows directly from the way both offices operate: the BOIP for the Benelux and the EUIPO for the European Union open their application procedures to anyone with an account, without mandatory involvement of an agent. What must be in that application — the correct class, the correct description — follows from the classification and the systems these offices themselves use, and an application that does not meet these requirements simply goes through the procedure at the office in question, with the outcome that results from it.