European Union Intellectual Property Office

European Union Intellectual Property Office
French: Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle

EUIPO building
Agency overview
Formed15 March 1994 (1994-03-15)
Preceding agency
  • Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM)
Typedecentralised agency of the European Union
JurisdictionEuropean Union
HeadquartersAlicante, Spain
38°18′53″N 0°31′06″W / 38.314702°N 0.51824°W / 38.314702; -0.51824
Employees775[1]
Agency executives
  • João Negrão, Executive Director
  • Andrea Di Carlo, Deputy Executive Director[3]
  • Jorma Hanski, Chairperson, Management Board
  • José Antonio Gil Celedonio, Chairperson, Budget Committee[4]
Key document
  • Regulation (EU) 2017/1001[2]
Websiteeuipo.europa.eu

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (French: Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle) is a decentralised agency of the EU responsible for the registration of EU-wide unitary trade marks and industrial design rights.[1] These exist alongside the intellectual property rights of individual EU member states, so the agency also works to harmonise EU-wide and national registration processes. Other responsibilities include the administration of the rights of certain products in the EU to carry geographical indications.

EUIPO was founded in 1994 and was formerly known as the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), but was renamed in March 2016 to reflect major reforms. The EUIPO is based in Alicante, Spain.

  1. ^ a b "European Union Intellectual Property Office | European Union". european-union.europa.eu. European Union. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Regulation - 2017/1001 - EN - eutmr - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Who we are". European Union Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Governance". European Union Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 27 May 2024.