An automated conflict scan against the public registers delivers results within minutes. The question 'is my brand name available' is answered only for what a scan can see: identical or highly similar trade marks already registered. Whether a name can be used in practice without problems depends on more factors, and that takes more time than the scan itself.
The timeline for a complete picture therefore consists of two parts. The first part is the technical scan: it is very fast, because the registers of the BOIP and EUIPO are searchable and results come back immediately. The second part is the assessment of those results: which hits are relevant for the classes in which you are active, which appear coincidental, and which warrant a closer look. That second part is where most of the time goes, and where entrepreneurs often misjudge things.
Why a scan is faster than an answer
A conflict scan searches the registers based on textual and phonetic similarity. This happens automatically and delivers a list of possible matches. What the scan does not do in one go is weigh that list against the classes of the Nice Classification in which you want to register. Two trade marks that sound identical can coexist if they fall in completely different classes. That is precisely where the work that takes time comes in: not the searching, but the interpreting.
It is also the reason why a short list of hits should not automatically give you peace of mind, and a long list should not automatically mean a problem. Anyone going through this themselves often spends more time digging through both registers than on submitting the application itself. With getting a first indication in a few minutes that first, technical part is at least not the bottleneck.
Where processing time gets stuck in practice
The delay rarely lies in the scan, but almost always in three things around it.
The first point is class selection. A scan run against the wrong classes delivers a result that says nothing about your own situation. Before a conflict scan yields anything useful, it must first be established in which classes you want to use the mark, and that is a choice requiring care and does not happen in two minutes.
The second point is borderline cases. With an exact hit, the conclusion comes quickly: that name is already taken in the same class. With similarity without an exact match, it is more nuanced, and no algorithm will assess that nuance for you. Here lies the risk that an entrepreneur dismisses a hit too quickly, or conversely, abandons an application over a hit that is actually no problem.
The third point is the assumption that a scan is the same as a guarantee. A conflict scan is an indication based on the public registers at the time of searching. New applications just filed may not yet be visible in the register, and the final assessment by the BOIP or EUIPO happens independently of any prior scan. Anyone waiting on this assuming a clear scan guarantees registration is relying on something no one can promise.
What is in fact certain about the timeline
Once the conflict scan has been assessed and the classes are set, the application itself is a matter of preparing the file down to the smallest detail and submitting it to the BOIP or EUIPO. From that point on, the bureau's own procedure runs, with the opposition period as a fixed part of it. That period and the duration of the assessment itself are subjects covered separately; here we are talking about the step that comes before it, namely the moment when you know with sufficient certainty whether filing makes sense.
To complete this step properly, it is wise to look not only at the scan but also at the classes in which you want to be active now and in the future. At marcai.eu, that process is tailored to your situation, so that the conflict scan is carried out on the classes that are relevant to you, rather than on a standard list. How that process is structured in detail and which sources are used is explained on the page about our working method.
In brief
The scan itself is a matter of minutes. The answer to the question of whether a name is truly available requires an assessment of classes and results that is not automated, and that is the step where the turnaround time lies in practice. Anyone who wants to read more about this will find background information in the frequently asked questions about the conflict scan.
Do you want to know where you stand with your own mark name? The mark check is free and provides an immediate first indication, without you needing an account for it.