Yes, you can in principle monitor for yourself whether trademarks that look like yours are being applied for. The BOIP and EUIPO registers are public and free to consult, just like TMView, where applications from across Europe can be searched. The question is not whether it is possible, but whether you will keep it up when it matters: within the opposition term.
That deadline is the core of the problem. Once a new brand is published, there is a limited period of time where you can take action against it. If you miss that publication, you will also miss the opportunity to perform. Self-monitoring therefore means not browsing the register once a year, but checking it structurally and on time, in two registers at the same time, in all classes that are relevant to your brand.
What self-monitoring means in practice
Those who want to monitor themselves actually go through three steps, over and over again. First, looking for new requests in the period since the previous check. Then assessing whether one of those requests is similar enough to your brand, both in terms of name or image and class, to be able to do something about it. And finally, if so, inquiring whether and how you can respond within the remaining period.
The first step is a matter of discipline: a recurring appointment in the agenda, and the willingness to keep it even when it is busy. The second step is more difficult in terms of content than it seems. Two names that at first glance have nothing to do with each other can be confusingly similar in the eyes of a register, for example because they are in the same class and look phonetically alike. Conversely, a name that is very similar to yours can be registered in a completely different class without you being able to do anything about it. That assessment requires familiarity with the NICE classification and how previous cases have been assessed, and that is exactly the kind of assessment where an indication is never a guarantee.
Where the border lies
The boundary between doing it yourself and outsourcing is not whether the information is accessible — it can be accessed free of charge for everyone. The limit lies in the risk that you will miss something because the check is irregular, or because you overlook a request that was relevant but at first glance looked innocent. For an entrepreneur who has registered one brand in one class and wants to spend little more time on it, that risk is real: surveillance is not a one-off job but a recurring one, where the costs of a missed period can be high compared to the effort of structural monitoring.
In addition, a conflict scan is always a snapshot. A brand that seems free today may still be affected by a competing application tomorrow. This applies to both the application itself — where you get a first indication in a few questions — and then, once the trademark has been registered and therefore has something to lose.
What a security service adds
A security service essentially replaces the same three steps you would take yourself, but in an automated and structural way: continuously scanning new requests, identifying if there is a resemblance to your brand, and reporting it in time so that you can decide what to do with them within the opposition period. That decision — whether to take action and how — remains up to you, possibly with a trademark attorney if the file so requests. At marcai.eu, the emphasis is on signaling and timeliness; we do not provide legal advice on whether a concrete case has a chance of success.
Whether monitoring your situation yourself is feasible depends on how many trade marks you hold, in how many classes, and how much time you want to structurally dedicate to searching registers. For those who prefer to outsource this, you can see on the pricing page what monitoring costs as a subscription, separate from the fees that go directly to the BOIP or EUIPO. How the scans are conducted and which registers are used is explained on the page about how the service works.
Are you unsure whether your trade mark is vulnerable to a new application, or would you first like to know what monitoring would look like in your case? Take the free trade mark check or read the other topics in the knowledge base; for specific questions about your registration, you can also browse the frequently asked questions before you make a choice.