For a trademark application you need less than most entrepreneurs initially think: a clear representation of the mark (the name, the logo, or both), a list of the goods and services for which you use the mark, details of your business, and your own account with the BOIP or the EUIPO. What you definitely do not need is a power of attorney for a representative or a document that you must have separately legalised.
The detail most often overlooked in this topic is that last point about the account. Marcai.eu works with guided self-filing: we prepare the application, but you file it yourself via your own free account with the office. This means you must create that account in good time, with the correct business details, before the application can actually be submitted.
The mark itself: name, logo or both
The core of every application is the representation of the mark. For a word mark this is simply the text as you wish to have it registered, without typeface or colour. For a figurative mark or a combined mark you provide a file of the logo, usually in a standard format such as JPEG or PNG. What is important is that the representation matches how you actually use or will use the mark; an application for a logo you never apply in that way has little value. If you are unsure whether you want to register a word mark, a figurative mark or both, that is something to consider on a case-by-case basis, for example via the explanation for each situation about what you can register.
The list of goods and services
Every trademark application is associated with one or more classes from the Nice Classification: the international system for categorising goods and services. You do not need to work out this classification yourself, but you do provide the basis: a clear description of what you sell or offer under the mark. The more concrete that description, the better the right classes can be selected. A vague description such as 'advisory services' results in a less precise application than a concrete list of what those advisory services entail.
Details of your business
A trademark application is filed in the name of a legal entity or a business owner, not in the name of an employee or an email address. You therefore need the business name, the address and the registration number with the Chamber of Commerce, and for an application via the EUIPO also details that are appropriate for an application at European level. These details appear both in the application itself and in the account with which you file.
Your own account with BOIP or EUIPO
Because marcai.eu is not a representative and does not require your login credentials, you always file the application yourself. This requires a free account with the BOIP for a Benelux mark or with the EUIPO for a Union mark, created in the name of your business. This account is also the place where you later handle renewals and where correspondence from the office arrives, so it is worthwhile to set it up carefully and not link it to a private email address that will no longer be in use in a few years.
What you do not need
There is no obligation to engage a lawyer or trademark representative for an initial application, and no separate proof of use is required to be able to file a mark within the Benelux or the European Union. Nor is a notarial declaration or legalisation of documents part of a standard trademark application. Only when an application is refused or a third party files an opposition is there a point at which a trademark representative is needed; until that point the process remains straightforward.
If you want to know first whether a name or logo is still available before you submit anything, you can do that with a trademark check in a few questions easy to see. How the conflict search, class selection and guided filing work together is explained on the page about how it works, and an overview of service fees and official fees can be found on the pricing page.
Do you have your documents in order and want to know where you stand with your own mark? Run the free mark check or browse the knowledge base on marcai.eu for the next step.