Tailored to SMEs and Individual Entrepreneurs

EUTM EasyFiling was launched in 2021 and is the EUIPO’s simplified, mobile-friendly e-filing tool tailored to the needs of direct filers from the European Economic Area—particularly first-time applicants with limited IP knowledge. The tool combines plain-language guidance and virtual assistance to make the EUTM application process smoother and more accessible. The addition of pre-assessment services marks a major step in EUTM EasyFiling’s evolution.

Most of the services previously only available in the advanced EUTM filing form are now accessible to all users—particularly direct filers such as small businesses (SMEs) and individual entrepreneurs—making trade mark filing easier, safer, and more user-friendly. The new features provide real-time risk alerts and filing guidance directly within the EUTM EasyFiling form, helping users better assess potential risks during the process of submitting an EUTM application.

By applying AI to pre-assessment and examination support, the EUIPO ensures the trust and transparency of those solutions, which are only implemented after thorough testing. These tests include high accuracy level reached in simulations ran by the AI experts, as well as the results reported by pilot users and gathered during dedicated user sessions with representatives of user associations (UAs).

The set of new features now available in EUTM EasyFiling include the AI-powered pre-assessment service:

• Similar AG decisions: this service assesses whether any similar EUTM application filed previously was refused on absolute grounds, for example because it made use of offensive language or symbols. This gives applicants an idea of the registrability of the mark.

Additional pre-assessments services check for:

• Earlier EU trade mark: this service alerts applicants about the existence of already registered EUTMs with an identical verbal denomination and at least one matching class of goods and services by checking it against entries in the TMView database, the EUIPO’s flagship trade mark search tool. This proactive check helps to ensure that a trade mark doesn’t infringe on existing rights, saving time and avoiding legal complications.

• Domain name conflicts: this check alert users to potential conflicts between their proposed mark and existing .eu domain names, especially those that might suggest earlier rights, as a preventive measure to avoid potential legal disputes.

• Conflicts with other IP rights, such as: registered geographical indications (GIs), traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), traditional terms for wine or plant varieties.

• Offensiveness, morality, public policy, or deceptiveness (misleading information about the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods).

Human Support and Ethical AI

If the system flags a potential issue, applicants can contact the EUIPO directly via the ‘Chat with us’ functionality, and seek connection with a local IP expert in their own language through the EUIPO’s Pro bono support service to remedy any hurdle on the road to registration. The results of the pre-assessment services however never replace the final decision taken by a human EUIPO examiner.

The addition of the services to EUTM EasyFiling reflect the EUIPO’s strategic objectives in a number of areas of the SP2030. It improves the customer experience by delivering innovative IP products and services, as well as consistent, legally sound, predictable, and high-quality IP rights. It contributes to the delivery a 'total experience model' focused on customer centricity, digital transformation, and trust. And it demonstrates the EUIPO’s approach to the gradual adoption of AI into its systems, rooted in ethical and responsible practices.

Learn more about the Office’s human-centric use of AI and its role in improving services while ensuring human oversight remains central.

Discover the new services in EUTM EasyFiling today – and experience a smarter way to protect your EU trade mark.

Source: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/news/real-time-alerts-and-ai-plug-ins-in-eutm-easyfiling-form