In Estonia, it is possible to apply for the protection of trade marks under the Trade Marks Act that took effect on 1 May 2004 (the first Trade Marks Act entered into force in 1992). As of 1 May 2004, the EU legal acts concerning trade marks are also applicable in Estonia.
The most convenient option for filing trade mark applications is through an electronic filing portal. The portal enables to fill in and send trade mark registration applications to the Patent Office and to view previously filed applications. In order to submit a request, one must authenticate themselves using an ID card, Mobile ID or Smart-ID. Anyone can fill in an application, but only the applicant or a patent attorney representing them may sign it. In 2024, 95% of those who filed trade mark applications with the Patent Office used the opportunity to submit an application for trade mark registration electronically. Other documents related to the application process can be filed electronically with a digital signature. The trade mark procedure has been paperless since 2017.
There are four possibilities to obtain legal protection for a trade mark in Estonia:
- registration in the register of trade marks and service marks by filing an application with the Patent Office;
- registration in the register of the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), requesting legal protection in Estonia;
- making the trade mark well-known in Estonia;
- registration as a European Union trade mark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
In total, 1,181 trade mark registration applications were filed in 2024 (also 1,181 in 2023). Estonian applicants filed 1,004 applications (1,018 in 2023). The total of 656 international trade mark registrations designating Estonia were received (728 in 2023). In total, 1,837 trade marks were applied for legal protection (1,909 in 2023).
By the end of the year, there were 2,553,964 registered European Union trade marks (including 7,109 trade marks from Estonia), 26,037 registered national trade marks and 24,265 international registrations which are subject to legal protection in Estonia in force in Estonia.
Estonian applicants filed 43 international trade mark registration applications to WIPO (42 in 2023). The number of countries and unions of countries where protection was requested amounted to 59 (57 in 2023). Protection for trade marks was most frequently applied for in the United Kingdom (25 times), the European Union and the United States (24r registrations each), followed by Latvia, Lithuania and Canada (8 registrations each).
Estonian applicants filed 54.8% of all applications. Of foreign countries, China was most interested in obtaining legal protection in Estonia, with the applications and international registrations from this country accounting for 5.9% of the total number of applications. China was followed by the USA (3.3%), Hungary (2.8%) and Latvia (2.6%).
The most popular services were again advertising, office functions, retail and wholesale services (10.2%), followed by education, training, entertainment, cultural and sports activities (7.7%), scientific and technological services (5.2%), insurance, financial affairs and real estate affairs (4.4%), services for providing food and drink and accommodation (4%), with construction services (3.8%) as a new addition to the list.
All interested parties, including the Customs Board, police and the commercial register, can use the trade mark database on the website of the Patent Office, which contains data on registered and pending trade marks, as well as the international registrations designating Estonia. The database contains up-to-date data, as it is updated on a daily basis.
In 2024, the average examination time for national trade mark applications was 0.4 months, while the examination time for international registrations was 0.5 months. The average duration is calculated from the receipt of the application until the decision on registration is made, if there are no deficiencies in the application.
For some time now, the Patent Office offers an accelerated procedure for trade mark applications. An application for an accelerated procedure with reduced data must comply with certain requirements, which allows the registration decision to be made in a shorter period of time. The accelerated trade mark application procedure remains popular – in 2024, 56% of all domestic applications were filed as accelerated procedure applications. On average, such applications took eight days to reach the stage of either the registration decision or (in the case of issues) the first notification.
Trade marks are published in the Estonian Trade Mark Gazette twice – first, in Part I when the decision on trade mark registration has been made and again in Part III after the trade mark has been entered into the register of trade marks and service marks. Decisions on international registrations are published for appeal in Part II of the Gazette. In order to speed up the trade mark registration process, the Estonian Trade Mark Gazette is published twice a month from 2024, instead of once a month.
Disputes arising from trade marks are resolved in the Industrial Property Board of Appeals and in court. The Industrial Property Board of Appeals did not grant any appeals in 2024.
Although the economic situation in 2024 was not favourable for entrepreneurship, it is gratifying that the interest in registering one’s intellectual property has not diminished. The same number of trade mark registration applications was filed to the Estonian Patent Office as in 2023 (1,181) and the number of European Union trade mark registration applications was 917 in 2024 (922 in 2023). Small and medium-sized companies were able to apply for financial support via a joint fund of the EUIPO and the European Commission.
The Trade Mark Department contributed to raising the awareness of entrepreneurs and other interested parties through presentations at seminars and by updating information on the blog, Instagram and website of the Patent Office. The specialists on the Trade Mark Department conducted 1,128 trade mark and design related consultations over the year. Each month, the Patent Office awards the title of Trade Mark of the Month to one outstanding trade mark from among the marks registered that month. Exciting and educational stories of the owners of the best trade marks about their journey of creating and protecting their trade marks are published in the blog of the Patent Office (in Estonian).
