European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

EUIPO is the European Union Intellectual Property Office responsible for managing the EU trade mark and the registered Community design. We also work with the IP offices of the EU Member States and international partners to offer a similar registration experience for trade marks and designs across Europe and the world.

In 1994, the EUIPO began life as the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM). Created as a decentralised agency of the EU, the Office was set up in Alicante, Spain, with a remit to administer the new EU-wide unitary property right, the Community Trade Mark (CTM) – now the EU Trade Mark.

Over the course of two and a half decades, the EUIPO has contributed decisively to the modernisation of the intellectual property landscape in the EU. It has worked with its partner IP offices across the EU on common projects, all with one aim – to benefit all users of the EU trade mark and design system, wherever and however they choose to seek protection.

Through the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, the EUIPO is engaged in providing evidence-based information about the importance of intellectual property, for policy-makers and citizens alike.