German Trademark or EU Trademark: Which to File

If your sales and enforcement will be in Germany for the next few years, file a national trademark at the DPMA. If you will be trading across several European Union member states soon, file an EU trademark at EUIPO. That is the decision in one line, and for most German businesses it is the right one.

What follows is the detail that changes the answer: what each route costs, how the risk profiles differ, what happens if an EU trademark application runs into an opposition, and why a trademark used only in Germany can be vulnerable if it was filed as an EUTM.

For the general version of this comparison across the European Union, see EU trademark vs national trademark. This post is the German-specific one.

The Two Routes

A German national trademark is governed by the Markengesetz and handled by the DPMA. It covers Germany.

An EU trademark is a single unitary right covering all 27 member states, examined and administered by EUIPO under Regulation (EU) 2017/1001. You cannot have it in some countries and not others: it stands or falls as a whole.

Both run for ten years per term and renew indefinitely. Both are exposed to a five-year non-use rule after registration.

What Each One Costs at the Office

DPMA, for a German national trademark:

• Electronic filing: 290 euro, covering up to three classes.
• Paper filing: 300 euro, covering up to three classes.
• Each further class beyond the first three: 100 euro.

So a Germany-only filing is 290 euro for one to three classes, 390 euro for four, and 490 euro for five. Collective and certification marks run on a separate and materially higher schedule, so budget those differently.

EUIPO, for an EU trademark:

• 850 euro for one class.
• 50 euro for the second class.
• 150 euro for each further class.

The shapes are different, and that matters. The DPMA bundles three classes into the base fee, so a German filing in two or three classes costs the same as a filing in one. EUIPO charges more for each class from the third onward, but its fee buys you 27 countries. If you are choosing between three classes in Germany and three classes across the European Union, you are comparing 290 euro with 1,050 euro, for very different scope.

These are government fees. Professional fees are separate. Class Assist helps you work out how many classes you need before you price either route.

Procedure and Opposition Windows

At EUIPO, the application is examined and then published. An opposition can be filed within three months of publication. In Germany, the DPMA examines on formalities and absolute grounds such as distinctiveness, publishes, and oppositions run post-publication under the Markengesetz.

The practical difference is who can object to you. An EUTM application is visible to owners of earlier rights in every European Union country, and an owner of an older Spanish or Italian right can block your EU-wide application even though your market is Germany. A German national filing narrows the pool of possible opponents to rights that have effect in Germany.

If an opposition does land, EU trademark opposition: timeline, costs, and how to respond sets out what to expect.

Unitary Reach, Unitary Risk

A Munich apparel client filed an EUTM in two classes, planning to expand into Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands within a year. A Spanish company opposed, based on an older Spanish right. The EUIPO case froze the EU-wide path right through the client's launch window.

What that teaches:

• An EUTM concentrates risk. One opposition can hold up the whole rollout.
• National filings act as shock absorbers. A German registration keeps moving through examination and, if unopposed, matures while the EUIPO fight continues.

We see this most in food and apparel, where the registers are crowded across southern Europe.

Conversion, If an EUTM Runs Into Trouble

This is the safety valve, and it is worth knowing about before you need it.

If an EUTM application is refused or withdrawn, or a registration is declared invalid or revoked, you can request conversion into national applications in the member states where the ground for refusal does not apply. EUIPO handles the request; you then prosecute the resulting national applications.

Notes from our files:

• Conversion keeps the original EUTM filing date and priority for the converted applications. That is the point of it, and it can be decisive against anyone who filed in between.
• You still pay each national office's fees and face each office's examination and opposition.
• The timing window is strict. Start evaluating conversion the moment a refusal is sustained or a serious opposition arrives, not after the dust settles.

Non-Use, If You Trade Only in Germany

Both systems have a five-year non-use clock running from registration.

An EUTM can be revoked if the trademark has not been put to genuine use in the European Union within five years. Use in a single member state can sometimes be enough, if it is commercially genuine and oriented to trade in the European Union, but that is a fact-heavy argument you do not want to have to make. A German registration has the same five-year clock, assessed only for Germany.

Our rule of thumb: if your first three years are Germany-only and the European Union launch is not yet committed, a German national filing avoids leaving a parked EUTM exposed to a non-use attack.

What Happens When the European Union Enlarges

Because the EUTM is unitary, it generally extends to a new member state on accession. If you expect growth in a candidate country, an EUTM tends to bring you along automatically once accession takes effect, though enforcement on the ground during a transition is its own question. EUIPO publishes notices at the time with the details.

The Decision, Laid Out

File at the DPMA first if:

• Your sales and enforcement needs are Germany-only for the next two to three years.
• You need several classes. The DPMA's 290 euro base fee covers up to three classes, and you do not need protection across the European Union.
• Your clearance search shows crowded fields in Spain, Italy, or France, and you would rather not take on unitary risk while you build up use and goodwill in Germany.
• Your brand name is German-language and not yet localized for other European Union countries.
• The name or the logo may still change as the business finds its shape. You commit only the DPMA fee while the identity settles.

File an EUTM first if:

• You will be selling in several European Union countries in the next 12 to 24 months.
• The trademark cleared an EU-wide search and you want one record, one renewal, one enforcement hub.
• Your marketing and distribution are already pan-European: multi-language packaging, EU-wide e-commerce, cross-border logistics.
• You want the automatic extension to new member states.

Go hybrid when:

• You file the German trademark now for speed and resilience, and the EUTM in parallel or shortly after. If the EUTM filing draws an opposition, Germany keeps running. If it sails through, you consolidate.

Starting National and Expanding Later

You do not have to choose Germany forever or the European Union now. A common path is to register in Germany, then extend to other countries and regions through WIPO's Madrid System (the Madrid Protocol) once export or e-commerce demand is proven, adding the European Union or individual countries as the business case firms up. That staggers the spend against validated demand. See the guide to WIPO's Madrid System for how adding countries and regions works.

Filing at the DPMA, Step by Step

1. Clearance and strategy. Confirm the trademark is distinctive and not confusingly similar to earlier German or European Union rights covering your goods. Map the classes to what you sell now and in the next year or two. Start with a free trademark check.
2. Prepare and file. File electronically to get the 290 euro base fee covering up to three classes. You will need a clear representation of the trademark, the goods and services list, and the owner's details.
3. Examination and publication. The DPMA checks formalities and absolute grounds. If the trademark is acceptable it is published, and the opposition period runs.
4. Registration and maintenance. Calendar the ten-year renewal. German renewal fees are due six months before expiry, with a further six-month grace period on surcharge. Keep using the trademark in Germany, consistently, so a non-use challenge has nothing to bite on.
5. Expansion. When demand appears outside Germany, cover the European Union through WIPO's Madrid System or file an EUTM directly, depending on timing and budget.

How We Run This for German Clients

You get an attorney-led plan from the start. We run the EU-wide search, size the classes and the specification, and model the government fees off the current EUIPO and DPMA schedules. Where risk is high, we map the hybrid plan and calendar the opposition windows and conversion triggers. When you are ready, we can prepare your EU trademark application, and if an opposition lands we handle it while Germany keeps moving.