Choosing Your Battle Language at EUIPO

At first glance, a language choice may seem like a minor administrative detail. In reality it can have important procedural consequences years later if the trademark becomes the subject of a dispute before the EUIPO. 

The European Union currently has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish. 

A trademark application may be filed in any of these languages, and the list of goods and services will be translated to all these languages ex officio by the EUIPO. 

However, there are only five official working languages at EUIPO: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. 

In an EU trademark application, you must indicate two languages: 

1. a first language, which can be any of the EU’s 24 official languages; and 

2. a second language, which must be one of the EUIPO’s five working languages: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish. 

Choosing the languages carefully is important because they may determine the language of future disputes, such as opposition- or cancellation proceedings, and not merely the language used during the examination of the application. 

Any dispute before the EUIPO will be conducted in one of the five working languages: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. 

The trademark owner may not control the language of future disputes. Depending on the language combination chosen at the filing stage, an opponent may be able to dictate whether the proceedings are conducted in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish by making that selection when filing the notice of opposition. 

Example A: You file an EU trademark application in English and choose French as the second language. If someone later opposes your application or seeks cancellation of your registration, the proceedings may be conducted in French if your opponent chooses that option. For applicants that do not routinely conduct legal proceedings in French, this may create additional costs, complexity and practical challenges. 

Example B: You file an EU trademark application in Finnish and choose English as the second language. In that case, any future disputes would be conducted in English (because Finnish is not an official working language at EUIPO). It is also important to note that applicants may also request that correspondence during the examination phase is conducted in the second language. 

Therefore, when filing an EU trademark application, the second language should not be treated as a mere formality. It is a strategic procedural choice that may affect the conduct, cost, and efficiency of future disputes. Trademark disputes are challenging enough without having to navigate them in an unfamiliar language. 

When selecting the second language for an EU trademark application, applicants should take a long-term view and consider how they would want to conduct future opposition or cancellation proceedings. The second language may ultimately determine the battle language in which your rights are defended.