Industrial and intellectual property
We define trademark, patent, design and copyright registration and defense strategies aligned with your business model to strengthen your position in Spain and internationally.
Tell us about your project and we'll propose the best IP protection strategy for your business.
Trademarks and Trade Names
We protect your corporate identity, product names and branding through trademark registration in territories relevant to your business.
Trademark management:
- Viability studies and likelihood of confusion analysis
- Trademark registration (national, EU, international)
- Trademark watch and oppositions to third parties
- Renewals and portfolio maintenance
- Defense against infringement and unfair competition
Patents and Utility Models
We identify patentable inventions in your product or process, draft patent and utility model applications, and manage proceedings before national and international offices. Utility models protect inventions of lower inventive rank with a faster and more economical procedure, ideal for incremental technical improvements.
Services:
- Prior art searches and patentability analysis
- Drafting patent applications (national, PCT, European)
- Registration of utility models for inventions of lower inventive rank
- Management of examination and grant proceedings
- Patent and utility model portfolio strategy by markets
- Defense against oppositions and appeals
- Freedom to Operate (FTO) analysis
- Defense against patent infringement
- IP due diligence in investment or M&A transactions
- Valuation of intangible assets
Industrial Designs
We protect the appearance of your products —lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and ornamentation— through industrial design registration. To be registrable, a design must meet two requirements: novelty (it must not be identical to designs already disclosed) and individual character (it must produce a different overall impression on the informed user). We manage registration before the OEPM (Spain), the EUIPO (registered Community design, valid in all 27 Member States) and the WIPO Hague System for international protection.
Services:
- Prior art searches and registrability analysis
- Design registration before the OEPM, EUIPO and the Hague System
- Advice on unregistered Community designs (3-year protection from disclosure)
- Preparation and optimisation of graphic representations of the design
- Renewals and portfolio maintenance (5-year terms renewable up to 25 years)
- Defence against infringement and invalidity actions
Trade Secrets
We identify confidential information and strategic assets that should be protected as trade secrets, design comprehensive protection plans, and establish legal and technical protocols to maintain confidentiality. We implement access policies, non-disclosure agreements and non-compete clauses to safeguard your competitive advantage.
Services:
- Trade secret identification audits
- Design of action plans: identification, protection and protocols
- Confidentiality policies and access to sensitive information
- Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with employees and third parties
- Non-compete and non-solicitation clauses
- Legal actions against disclosure or misappropriation
Copyright and Intellectual Property
We accredit authorship and creation date of original works, strategy in protected industrial and intellectual property rights and structure assignment and exploitation contracts. We design protection strategies for texts, photographs, music, illustrations and digital content, establishing clear conditions for sharing, licensing or exploiting your creations without losing control over them.
Services:
- Protection of intellectual property rights, selecting the most appropriate route in each case
- Assignment and exploitation contracts for intellectual property rights
- Audit and definition of protection strategy for creative and technological assets
- IP due diligence in investment or M&A transactions
- Valuation of intangible assets
- Legal actions for intellectual property rights infringement
Software Protection
If software is your competitive advantage, protect it legally from day one. We help startups and SaaS companies turn their software into a solid legal asset: we analyze which elements should be protected, structure ownership through appropriate contracts with employees, developers and suppliers, and establish mechanisms to prove authorship and creation date.
If you're incorporating a technology startup, it's essential to structure developer contracts correctly to ensure code ownership from the beginning.
Services:
- Intellectual property rights registration for software
- Patentability analysis of software-implemented inventions
- Protection of algorithms and AI models as trade secrets
- Assignment agreements with developers
- Ownership audits of code and third-party components
IP for founders and startups
For technology startups, it is essential to protect IP from incorporation. Discover how in our advisory service for founders where we structure IP ownership from the start.
Frequently asked questions about trademarks and industrial property
Do I need to register my trademark to have rights?
In Spain, trademark registration is required to provide legal certainty, exclusivity and the ability to act against infringements, except in very specific cases of well-known unregistered marks.
How do I choose the Nice classes when registering a trademark?
The Nice Classification (NCL) divides goods and services into 45 classes (1-34 goods, 35-45 services). You must select the classes that cover your actual present and future activity, since protection is limited to the classes requested. A strategic analysis avoids unnecessary class costs and prevents protection gaps. We register trademarks before the OEPM, EUIPO and via the WIPO Madrid System, aligning class selection with your business model.
What should I do if my trademark has been copied?
Act quickly: first, document the infringement with screenshots and records. If the trademark is registered, you can bring civil and, where appropriate, criminal actions for unfair competition or trademark infringement. Before litigating we usually send a cease-and-desist letter and assess routes such as mediation. If the copy is a domain name, the UDRP procedure can be activated before WIPO. The sooner you act, the more defence options you will have.
How much does it cost to register a trademark in Spain, the EU and via Madrid?
It depends on the jurisdiction and the number of classes. In Spain (OEPM), the official fee starts at around €124 for the first class. In the EU (EUIPO), an EU trademark covers 27 countries and the fee is around €850 for one class. Via the Madrid System (WIPO) you pay a basic fee plus designations per country. To this we add strategic advice and management fees.
How long does trademark protection last and how is it renewed?
A trademark is granted for 10 years from the application date and is renewable indefinitely for 10-year periods. Renewal must be requested within the six months before expiry, with a six-month grace period afterwards subject to a surcharge. We maintain portfolios with renewal alerts before the OEPM, EUIPO and WIPO to prevent loss of rights.
What is a trademark opposition and how do you respond to one?
During the three months following publication of an EU trademark application (two months in Spain), third parties with earlier rights may file an opposition before EUIPO or the OEPM if they believe there is a likelihood of confusion. If you face an opposition, you have time to reply, negotiate or defend the application. A solid strategy includes a likelihood-of-confusion analysis and, where appropriate, coexistence agreements.
Can I recover a domain name that reproduces my trademark? (UDRP)
Yes. If a third party registers a domain that reproduces your trademark in bad faith and without legitimate rights, you can initiate the UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) before WIPO or an approved provider. It is faster and cheaper than a lawsuit and is usually resolved within a few months. You must show that the domain is identical or similar to your trademark, that the holder has no rights or legitimate interests, and that it acted in bad faith.
What is the difference between a word and a figurative trademark?
A word trademark protects only the name or words. A figurative trademark protects a logo, a colour or a combination of verbal and figurative elements. The choice depends on how you use your identity. The safest approach is usually to register the name (word) and the logo (figurative) separately for flexible protection.
Want to protect your innovation?
Tell us what you're developing and we'll help you design the most appropriate protection strategy.
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