If the sphere of interest for your business under the Trademark (TM) is limited to only EU countries, it is appropriate to register the TM with EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office).

Such registration does not require prior application filing in Ukraine or any EU country. The registration procedure is relatively fast, taking about 4 months from the date of application submission, provided there are no objections from other parties against the registration.

The difference in the TM registration procedure for EU countries through the EUIPO compared to the international registration under the Madrid System through WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) is as follows:

No substantive examination is conducted in each selected country (the TM is not compared with previously registered or filed TMs in those countries).

Only a formal examination is conducted to check if the application meets the registration requirements, including conformity with the principles of humanity and morality, non-descriptiveness, non-deceptiveness regarding goods and services, and other relevant factors.

Any person who has valid reasons to believe that the TM cannot be registered (based on the existence of an earlier TM within the EU, similarity with a well-known trade name, or any other grounds established by EU legislation) has the right to file an opposition against the application’s registration as a whole (not just in a specific country).

If such an opposition is successfully challenged, the TM registration will apply to all EU countries.

In summary, registering your TM with EUIPO can be a convenient and efficient way to protect your trademark rights in the European Union. It provides a unified registration process and coverage for all EU countries, saving time and resources compared to individual country-by-country registrations.