How trademarks and business names are registered and protected in Spain

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1. The Law regulates trademarks and business names. The right is acquired through a valid registration, recorded in the Trademark Register, which is unique for the whole country and managed by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.
2. A trademark is any sign that can be represented graphically and that distinguishes in the market one company's goods or services from those of others: words, images, letters, three-dimensional shapes and even sounds.
3. Some signs cannot be registered as trademarks: those lacking distinctive character, those against the law or public order, those that mislead the public, and those reproducing emblems of Spain, among others.
4. Nor can a sign identical or similar to an earlier trademark, business name or well-known sign be registered if there is a risk of confusion, nor another person's name or image without their authorization.
5. The registration lasts ten years from the filing date of the application and can be renewed for successive ten-year periods. Renewal must be requested and paid in the six months before expiration, with a six-month grace period subject to surcharges.
6. The owner must actually use the trademark in Spain within five years of registration. If not, and there are no justified reasons, the trademark may lapse and the owner loses some actions against third parties.
7. The registration gives the owner exclusive rights of use and allows them to prohibit third parties from using identical or similar signs, including as an internet domain name, and to claim compensation, destruction of counterfeit goods, and a coercive compensation of at least €600 per day until the infringement stops.
8. A trademark can be declared null if it violates the Law or was registered in bad faith, and can lapse if not renewed, if waived, or if unused. The Law also covers collective and certification trademarks, international trademarks, and Community trademarks.

Who it affects

• Businesses and self-employed workers: They can register trademarks and business names to protect their goods and services, and must use them to keep them.
• Anyone wanting to register a sign: They must file the application with the body of their Autonomous Community or with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and pay the corresponding fees.
• Trademark owners: They can prohibit unauthorized uses, claim compensation, and request the destruction of counterfeit products.
• Consumers: The ban on registering misleading signs helps ensure trademarks do not deceive about the nature, quality or origin of products.
• Associations of producers or service providers: They can register collective and certification trademarks under the Law's specific rules.

Words worth knowing

Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM)

Spanish Patent and Trademark Office: the public body that manages the Trademark Register and decides registration procedures.

Marca notoria o renombrada

Well-known trademark: 'notoria' if known by the relevant sector of the public, 'renombrada' if known by the general public. It receives stronger protection.

Caducidad

Lapse: loss of the effects of a registered trademark for not renewing it, not using it, or waiving it.

Nulidad

Nullity: a declaration that the trademark registration was never valid, for example if registered in bad faith.

Licencia

License: permission given by the trademark owner for someone else to use it, usually in exchange for payment.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries