EU Trade Marks for Pakistani Businesses: EUIPO Filing and Representation

Raza & Associates acts as IP counsel and coordinating firm, with EU counsel handling EUIPO representation. We advise on Pakistani law, not EU law.

• IP counsel in Pakistan: Pakistani advice, the Pakistani basic mark and, for applicants entitled to file through Pakistan, the Madrid application (Form MM2) through IPO-Pakistan.
• Coordinating firm: documents, deadlines and instructions between you and EU counsel, with one point of contact.
• Independent EU counsel (a legal practitioner qualified in the EEA with a place of business there, or a professional representative on the EUIPO’s list): files the EU application and acts before the EUIPO.

No one is compelled to use a representative before the EUIPO (Art. 119(1)), except parties with no domicile, principal place of business or “real and effective industrial or commercial establishment” in the European Economic Area (EEA: the EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). They must be represented in all proceedings “other than the filing of an application” (Art. 119(2)).

• Address, not nationality. Under the EUIPO’s Trade Mark Guidelines (edition 2026), the test is the party’s legal address. A PO box or an agent’s EEA address does not count, so a company with its head office in Lahore or Karachi is a non-EEA party, whoever owns it.
• The exception is narrow. In practice, filing, renewal and inspection of files are the steps a non-EEA party may take alone. Examination letters, oppositions, appeals, recordals and cancellation actions all need a representative.
• Without one, the examiner invites the applicant to appoint a representative; if that is not remedied, the application is refused.

So the filing exception is not a practical do-it-yourself route, and we do not use it to file at the EUIPO for clients: EU counsel files the application and is named on it from day one.

Only two kinds of representative may act before the EUIPO (Art. 120(1)):

• A legal practitioner qualified in an EEA state, with a place of business in the EEA, and entitled there to act in trade mark matters. EEA nationality is not needed, but a lawyer whose only place of business is outside the EEA is not entitled.
• A professional representative on the EUIPO’s list: an EEA national with a place of business or employment in the EEA, entitled to act before an EEA national office or the Benelux office. The nationality condition can be waived; the place-of-business condition cannot (Art. 120(2) and (4)).

Raza & Associates is neither. Our lawyers are Pakistani advocates, and a Pakistani trade mark agent registration gives no standing at the EUIPO. Once a representative is appointed, the EUIPO corresponds only with that representative, and we coordinate the response with you.

UK practitioners after Brexit. According to the EUIPO’s Brexit questions and answers, UK nationals lost the capacity to be professional representatives at the end of the transition period, and a lawyer whose place of business is only in the United Kingdom cannot act. A UK-based lawyer qualifies only by meeting all three conditions for a legal practitioner: EEA qualification, an EEA place of business and entitlement there. The only carry-over was for proceedings already pending at the end of 2020.

EU counsel files the application with the EUIPO, normally online, and is named as representative from the start. The mark covers all EU Member States, but not the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and it is registered, transferred or revoked only for the whole Union (Art. 1(2)).

• Fees. The basic fee is due within one month of filing. The EUIPO’s fees page showed, when checked 14 October 2026, an online fee of €850 for one class, €50 for the second class and €150 for each class from the third. Fees are not refundable, and classes cannot be added after filing.
• Examination. The EUIPO examines formalities and absolute grounds, such as lack of distinctiveness (Arts. 41–42). It does not refuse a mark on its own motion because of an earlier mark; owners of earlier rights must oppose.
• Opposition. After publication, third parties have three months to oppose (Art. 46(1)). If no opposition succeeds, the mark is registered (Art. 51).
• Priority. Pakistan has been a member of the Paris Convention since 22 July 2004. An EU application filed within six months of the Pakistani application for the same mark and goods can claim the Pakistani filing date (Art. 34); the claim is made on filing (Art. 35).
• Term. Ten years from the filing date, renewable for further ten-year periods (Art. 52).

Pakistan has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 24 May 2021, and the European Union since 1 October 2004. A Pakistani national, a person domiciled in Pakistan, or a business with a real and effective establishment in Pakistan can file an international application through IPO-Pakistan, based on a Pakistani application or registration, and designate the European Union (Madrid Protocol, Article 2(1); Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, s.92D).

• Refusal period. The EU has declared an 18-month period to notify refusals, counted from the day the EUIPO is notified of the designation.
• Examination and opposition. The designation is examined on the same absolute grounds, a second EUIPO language must be indicated, and the three-month opposition period starts one month after republication (Art. 196(2)).
• When EU counsel becomes compulsory. No representative is needed to designate the EU. A non-EEA holder must appoint EU counsel after a provisional refusal or an opposition (within two months, failing which the designation is refused), or to claim seniority at the EUIPO.
• A WIPO appointment does not carry over. A representative recorded with WIPO counts before the EUIPO only if it is in the EUIPO’s database of representatives, so EU counsel must still be appointed for EUIPO proceedings.

The Madrid route is for Pakistani brand owners only. The full Madrid steps, the five-year dependency on the Pakistani mark and WIPO’s fees are covered in our guide to international trademark registration from Pakistan. If the Pakistani basic mark is cancelled within those five years, the EU designation can be transformed only into an EU trade mark application.

• Pakistan. Search the Pakistani register first: the Pakistani mark is the base for a Madrid filing and a priority claim. See our guide to trademark search and clearance in Pakistan.
• Classes. Each Pakistani application covers one class (Trade Marks Rules 2004, rr.13–14), and a Madrid designation cannot cover more than the Pakistani basic marks. See our guide to trademark classes in Pakistan.
• European Union. Because earlier rights are left to opposition, a clash often appears only after publication. A first check can be run in the EUIPO’s eSearch plus; EU counsel then advises on EU registrability.

Source: EU Trade Mark Regulation 2017/1001, Arts. 119–120 and 193; EUIPO Trade Mark Guidelines (edition 2026), Part A, Section 5 and Part M, checked 14 October 2026.

Sources: the EU Trade Mark Regulation (consolidated text), the EUIPO Guidelines, Part M and WIPO’s Madrid declarations, checked 14 October 2026.

The same rule applies to registered EU designs under Regulation (EU) 2026/715 on European Union designs, in force since 1 July 2026: applicants based outside the EEA may file on their own, but must be represented by an EEA legal practitioner or a professional representative on the EUIPO’s list in all later proceedings (Arts. 115–116).

The EUIPO handles trade marks and designs only. European patents, including Unitary Patents, are granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), where applicants based outside the EPC states must act through a professional representative in all proceedings other than filing (European Patent Convention, Art. 133(2) and Art. 134). Before filing abroad, check whether IPO-Pakistan’s written permission is needed (see our guide to foreign filing permission for patents in Pakistan) and, as Pakistan is not a Patent Cooperation Treaty member, plan a direct filing within 12 months (see the PCT route and Pakistan).

A quotation for an EU trade mark has three parts: the official fees, EU counsel’s fees, and our fees for the Pakistani work and coordination. We take official fees from the EUIPO’s fees page (direct applications) and WIPO’s Madrid fee calculator (the EU charges an individual fee) on the day we quote. IPO-Pakistan’s handling fee is covered in our guide to international trademark registration from Pakistan. EU counsel quotes its own fees.

Raza & Associates is a Lahore intellectual property and corporate law firm, established in 2005 and listed in Tier 3 of The Legal 500 ranking for Pakistan intellectual property. Its trademark practice handles trademark registration and search work in Pakistan, files Madrid applications through IPO-Pakistan, and coordinates filings abroad with local counsel.

On the Pakistani side, Hashim Raza is a Registered Trade Mark Agent, IPO-Pakistan (Trade Marks Registry), Reg. No. TM-215/20, on the register since 25 January 2019. This is a Pakistani registration and gives no right to act before the EUIPO.

For a Pakistani brand entering the European Union, we can:

• search and file the mark in Pakistan, class by class;
• file a Madrid application through IPO-Pakistan designating the European Union;
• instruct EU counsel for a direct filing, an objection or an opposition, and coordinate with them;
• keep the Pakistani basic mark alive during the five-year dependency; and
• check foreign filing permission before a European patent filing.

Also selling in the United States or the United Kingdom? See our guides to US trademarks and USPTO representation and UK trade marks and UKIPO filing for Pakistani businesses. To discuss an EU filing plan, contact us with the mark, the goods or services, and the EU countries where you expect to sell.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. It does not give advice on EU law, which EU counsel should give. Laws and official fees change, so check the current position before you act.

• EU Publications Office (Official Journal texts): EU Trade Mark Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, its consolidated text and Regulation (EU) 2026/715 on EU designs.
• EUIPO: Guidelines on mandatory representation, Brexit Q&A on representatives and fees.
• EPO: EPC Art. 134. WIPO: Paris Convention members. IPO-Pakistan: international applications through the office of origin. All read 14 October 2026.