Trademark registration Sweden

In Sweden it is mandatory to register your brand name, as there is a first-to-file jurisdiction for trademarks. Only in exceptional cases can an unregistered trademark be protected. To be able to register a trademark in Sweden, you submit your application to the PRV, the Swedish Patent Office. Incidentally, you can also register a trademark in Sweden via the European or international route. The country is a member of the European Union and a signatory to the Madrid Protocol.

If you are a foreign entrepreneur and you want to apply for a trademark in Sweden, it is not mandatory, but it is advisable to have this process run through a trademark agent. Only when you want to change a registered trademark or make changes to the list of goods and services, you must provide a signed power of attorney for this. Incidentally, it is not necessary to actively use a product or service before registering the brand name in Sweden. However, this can help prevent a rejection on the basis of defective distinctiveness.

If you want to have a trademark protected and it consists of both a word element and a figurative element, we speak of a combined element. Before filing this trademark in Sweden, it is important to remember that the exclusive right you hope to acquire only applies to this exact combination. If you also want to be able to use and protect one or both elements separately, a separate application is required.

Have you not submitted such an application and has a third party come forward using one of your brand elements? In most cases you cannot take legal action against this. There is only one exception to this. You can only object if this person or company offers the same goods or services as you, or things that are very similar to them. You do this on the basis of a confusing similarity for the consumer. The success of such an objection is highly situation-dependent.

If you want to apply for trademark protection in Sweden, you must submit your application to the Swedish Patent Office. This may be on paper or electronically. Incidentally, in Sweden it is allowed to place products and services under multiple classes. This means that you only pay extra costs, but do not have to submit separate applications. After receiving your papers, the trademark specialists will assess your trademark on both formal and substantive factors. During the substantive investigation, among other things, the existence of identical trademarks is checked.

Before you can officially register a trademark in Sweden, third parties must be given the opportunity to object. To publicize your application, the patent office publishes it in the official trade bulletin. The opposition period has a term of three months. If a notice of objection is submitted, you as an entrepreneur will be given the opportunity to defend yourself against it. An objection should be filed if it is believed that registering your trademark constitutes infringement of an already existing trademark.

Due to new developments in Swedish law, it is now possible to demand proof of use from the opposition party. The patent office then assesses whether the opposition party is in favor or whether the objection is rejected. The opposition period can last up to two years, depending on the evidence provided by both parties. However, this usually takes no longer than three months. If there is no opposition at all, you can count on a time frame of three to six months to register a trademark in Sweden.