French trademark or European Union trademark?

French applicants often have the reflex to file a French trademark, on the one hand because their activity is most of the time limited to the French territory, at least at the beginning, and on the other hand because they are not well acquainted with the mechanisms of trademark filing abroad. However, with the development of the Internet, borders are tending to disappear in favour of a global territory that is limited only by the exportability of the products or services offered. When considering the protection of one's trademark abroad, the European Union trademark (formerly Community trademark) is an interesting option: it covers the 28 countries of the European Union for a relatively low cost (900€ for 1 to 3 classes), barely 4 times (and some dust) the price of a French trademark. Moreover, an EU trademark covers a market of no less than 500 million potential consumers! It is a unique title, registered with theEUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office, formerly OHIM), which protects your trademark in 28 countries without having to go through an examination phase in each country. The EUIPO centralises the applications, examines them and then issues the registration. The procedure is fast, and if all goes well your trademark will be registered in less than 6 months. However, there is a downside to this beautiful medal: as it is a unitary title, your trademark will be protected in all 28 countries, otherwise nothing. If a Polish national, for example, attacks your EU trademark and wins, the trademark will be refused or cancelled in all EU countries, without being able to maintain it in those countries where the Polish national has no enforceable right. In this case, it is still possible to request the transformation of the EU trademark into as many national trademarks as there are countries of interest, but you will have to pay a transformation fee AND a national filing fee in each country. Each national office will then examine your mark at its own pace, according to its own criteria, and issue its own registration certificate. The EU trademark is therefore a fragile trademark: the risks of attack by third parties holding prior rights are multiplied by 28. Moreover, it is difficult, time-consuming and expensive to carry out thorough prior art searches for each country. This results in a very limited knowledge of the risks incurred by one's application. This is why the opposition rate is relatively high: about 1 in 5 EU trademarks are opposed. The EU trademark should not be shunned for these reasons, far from it. The scope of its protection is worth the effort of filing! But to ensure a reliable legal basis for your trademark, we advise you, if your budget allows it, to start with a French trademark (whose availability you will have ensured through extensive background checks), then file an EU trademark within the priority period. This will allow you to secure your rights in France (when France is a key territory for you) while betting on international protection.