The Office
At the EUIPO we work with ideas, with reputations, with the shape of things to come.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which was known as OHIM until 23 March 2016, was created as a decentralised agency of the European Union to offer IP rights protection to businesses and innovators across the European Union (EU) and beyond. Since our foundation in 1994 we have been based in Alicante, in Spain, where we manage the registration of the EU trade mark and the registered Community design.
We register around
135 000 EU trade marks and close to 100 000 designs annually, offering intellectual property protection to companies and individuals in a market of more than 500 million consumers.
Since our inception, our core business has been the registration of EU trade marks and registered Community designs, which are valid throughout the European Union (EU). However, our work at EU level also extends to the harmonisation of registration practices and the development of common tools, in cooperation with our partners in national and regional IP offices throughout the EU, users and other institutional partners. Together, we are the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN), jointly working to offer users a similar registration experience, be it at national or at EU level.
At the EUIPO we also host the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights. Entrusted to us in June 2012, the Observatory brings public and private stakeholders together in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. For the EUIPO, this has meant becoming an active participant in the next stage of the intellectual property lifecycle: helping to secure the results of creativity and innovation after trade mark registration.
Our staff
Our staff come from the four corners of Europe and the wider world. The Office has five working languages – English, French, German, Italian and Spanish – and processes applications in 23 official languages of the EU.
Our core team is made up of close to 1 100 professionals working within the legal framework of the European Union Staff Regulations.
Our Executive Director
Our Executive Director is Christian Archambeau, a Belgian national. Mr Archambeau took up the position of Executive Director of the EUIPO on 1 October 2018. Previously, he was Deputy Executive Director of the Office (from 2010). Prior to joining the EUIPO, he held senior management positions in the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Space Agency.
Our Deputy Executive Director
Our Deputy Executive Director is Andrea Di Carlo, an Italian national. Mr. Di Carlo took up the position of Deputy Executive Director on 1 November 2019. Previously he was Director of the Customer Department of the Office (from 2018). Prior to that, he was Deputy Director of the Observatory Department and Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and Legal Affairs Department at the EUIPO.
Organisational chart
PDF version* This document is temporarily only available in English.
Legal background
The regulation establishing the Office was adopted by the Council of the European Union in December 1993 and revised on two occasions, in 2009 and in 2015. It created the European Union trade mark (formerly known as the Community trade mark) as a legal instrument in European Union law and established the EUIPO (formerly known as OHIM) as an EU agency with legal, administrative and financial autonomy. Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 created the registered Community design. On 23 March 2016, the Office changed its name to the European Union Intellectual Property Office upon the entry into force of Regulation 2015/2424.
Statistics
We publish statistical reports on the EU trade mark and Community design, giving general information on the total number of applications and registrations, including details per country / territory and per class of goods and services, and top filers.
We also issue country / territory reports covering the EU Member States and other countries / territories throughout the world.
Statistics per country / territory
Select a country / territory to download report:
The 'Top 25' representatives or owners are all compiled with reference to the representative's or owner's EUIPO ID number. In some cases, the same representative or owner may use more than one ID number, which can lead to the total filings attributed to them in these tables being undercounted.
Trade mark and design statistics are correct as of the date of publication. However, very minor changes may be made in the future due to the inherent nature of the EUIPO's business process and the data collection methodology.
| Appeal statistics Show |
We also publish the ranking of online filers every quarter, with figures for the entire European Union and by each Member State.
| Top 25 e-users Show |
Annual report and work programme
Apart from the long-term vision set out in the Strategic Plan, each year the Office prepares a work programme describing the activities and deliverables defined for that year. The results and achievements are then reported in our annual report.
Financial Management
The EUIPO enjoys legal, administrative and financial autonomy. All its operations are financed through registration fees without imposing any burden on the European Union or its taxpayers.
Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR) lays down the basic rules governing the establishment and implementation of the Office’s budget as well as the presentation and auditing of its accounts. Regulation BC 1 2019 (Financial Regulation) lays down the financial provisions applicable to the Office. The Budget Committee is the Office’s budgetary and discharge authority.
The Office adheres to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and therefore produces a range of official financial reports. These documents present in figures and comments the establishment and implementation of the budget and the financial situation of the Office. The official financial reports include the budget, the annual accounts and the report on budgetary and financial management.
For each financial year, the European Court of Auditors verifies that the annual accounts properly present the Office’s revenue, expenditure and financial position and issues a report and statement of assurance on the EUIPO.
The budget is the instrument that forecasts and authorises all the Office’s revenue and expenditure for each financial year. The Office’s annual accounts include financial statements (balance sheet, statement of financial performance, cash-flow table, statement of changes in capital) and reports on the EUIPO’s budget implementation.