International · EM
Trademark refusal rate in European Union: Madrid System filings
215,391 international registrations on record designate European Union. Among the 44,514 designations registered 2019–2022 (the resolved cohort we measure outcomes on), 20.3% received a provisional refusal, 1,558 (3.5%) are still refused outright, 145 partially, and 42,712 (96%) hold a grant of protection. That refusal rate is below the 4.4% median across the 60 most-designated offices.
How U.S. companies fare in European Union compared with 60+ other offices: where U.S. trademark owners get refused abroad.
47% of the registrations designating European Union also designate the United States. Those appear in USPTO data as well, so a USPTO clearance check catches them; the rest are invisible to a U.S.-only search.
Most-designated Nice classes in European Union
| Class | Goods / services | Registrations |
|---|---|---|
| Class 9 | Computers & Electronics | 64,668 |
| Class 42 | Computer & Scientific | 46,318 |
| Class 35 | Advertising & Business | 42,999 |
| Class 41 | Education & Entertainment | 28,745 |
| Class 5 | Pharmaceuticals | 23,316 |
| Class 25 | Clothing | 22,964 |
| Class 3 | Cosmetics & Cleaning | 20,237 |
| Class 7 | Machinery | 16,539 |
| Class 16 | Paper Goods | 15,033 |
| Class 10 | Medical Apparatus | 14,699 |
Who files into European Union
Office of origin of the registrations designating European Union, where the filers are based.
| Office of origin | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States (US) | 47,085 | 21.9% |
| Germany (DE) | 23,956 | 11.1% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 18,073 | 8.4% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 17,210 | 8% |
| France (FR) | 15,629 | 7.3% |
| Japan (JP) | 12,309 | 5.7% |
| Benelux (BX) | 11,619 | 5.4% |
| China (CN) | 11,358 | 5.3% |
International registrations designating European Union, by registration year
Registrations on record by the year they were registered internationally. Our copy covers registrations with activity since July 2025, so older years reflect renewals and decisions, not original volume.
| Year | Registrations | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 10,244 | |
| 2018 | 9,378 | |
| 2019 | 10,242 | |
| 2020 | 10,277 | |
| 2021 | 10,943 | |
| 2022 | 13,052 | |
| 2023 | 17,941 | |
| 2024 | 24,990 | |
| 2025 | 27,823 | |
| 2026 | 15,218 |
Planning to designate European Union? Run your mark through the free clearance risk check. It searches the international register in your classes and shows where similar marks were refused. If your mark has a logo, screen it with logo similarity search.