Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Matutis files and manages trademarks for companies that are based outside Germany, Austria and Switzerland and want protection in these markets or in the European Union as a whole. Rechtsanwalt Cornelius Matutis is a certified specialist in intellectual property law (Fachanwalt für Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz) and has been filing trademarks with the EUIPO, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, the Austrian Patent Office and the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property for more than twenty years. We work at fixed attorney fees, so you know the cost before you instruct us.
Two ways to work with us
Most clients from outside Europe instruct us for the complete application. We examine whether the mark can be registered, search the registers for earlier conflicting marks, draft the list of goods and services under the Nice Classification and file the application. We then handle all correspondence with the office until the mark is registered. The fixed fees are 500 EUR for an EU trademark, 400 EUR for a German or Austrian trademark and 450 EUR for a Swiss trademark, plus the official fees of the respective office.
Some clients, typically trademark attorneys and in-house counsel from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or Asia, prepare and file their applications themselves and only need a representative or an address for service in the EU, Germany, Austria or Switzerland because the office will not correspond with an applicant abroad. For these clients we offer registration as representative or address for service at a one-time fee of 350 EUR for an EU trademark and 250 EUR for a German, Austrian or Swiss trademark. This offer is available only through this English website.
Our fixed-fee offers
EU trademark registration with the EUIPO, protection in all 27 Member States with one application, attorney fee 500 EUR.
German trademark registration with the DPMA, attorney fee 400 EUR.
Austrian trademark registration with the Austrian Patent Office, attorney fee 400 EUR.
Swiss trademark registration with the IPI, attorney fee 450 EUR. Switzerland is not covered by the EU trademark.
International registration under the Madrid System through WIPO, attorney fee 400 EUR plus 100 EUR for each designated country.
Package for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, three national applications for 850 EUR.
Package for the EU and Switzerland, the entire European market for 850 EUR.
Representative and address for service before the EUIPO, DPMA, Austrian Patent Office and Swiss IPI, 350 EUR or 250 EUR one-time.
What you should know before you file in Europe
Trademark offices in Europe do not check whether an earlier identical or similar mark exists. The EUIPO and the DPMA register a mark if it is distinctive and not descriptive, and leave it to the owners of earlier marks to oppose. An opposition is filed within three months after publication of an EU trademark and within three months after registration of a German trademark. This is why we always search before we file. A conflict found before filing costs you nothing, a conflict found by an opponent costs the application and often the fees of the opponent as well.
The list of goods and services decides the scope of protection and the official fees. The EUIPO charges 850 EUR for one class, 50 EUR for the second and 150 EUR for each further class. The DPMA charges 290 EUR for up to three classes. Class headings taken from the Nice Classification are often too broad or too narrow for what a company actually does, and an overly broad list invites oppositions. We draft the list from your actual business.
Applicants without a domicile or establishment in the European Economic Area must be represented before the EUIPO in all proceedings other than the filing itself (Art. 119 (2) EUTMR). Applicants without a domicile, seat or establishment in Germany need a representative in Germany before the DPMA (§ 96 Abs. 1 MarkenG). Switzerland requires an address for service in Switzerland (Art. 42 MSchG). As a law firm with offices in Germany, Austria and Switzerland we meet these requirements for all four offices.
Why a law firm and not a filing service
Online filing services forward your data to the office. They do not search, they do not draft the list of goods and services and they do not answer an office action or an opposition. We do, and we are liable for our advice as attorneys. If a third party opposes your mark or if the office objects, you already have counsel who knows the file.
Trademark registration is one of several services we provide to companies outside the EU. If your company also processes personal data of customers in the EU, you may need an EU representative under Art. 27 GDPR, which we provide for 350 EUR per year.