Early TM Screening: the EUIPO’s new AI tool for pre-filing trade mark checks

An interesting new development at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO): the launch of what they describe as a new AI-based “Early Screening Tool” that provides a quick, automated indication of potential issues with a proposed trade mark application before filing. The tool is designed to flag potential:

• (i) conflicts with prior rights (the tool will seek to identify earlier EUTMs and national registrations within the EU, as well as domain names and company names); and
• (ii) descriptiveness and non-distinctiveness issues (although this element is only in beta release at the moment).

In respect of (i), the tool compares the respective goods or services term by term and in theory will highlight which terms are identical, similar or dissimilar to those covered by the prior mark (although my testing suggests this part of the tool is not reliable at this stage and often isn’t able to make a comparison.) It also sets out the number of times the earlier mark was contested (opposed registration or requested cancellation) and the number of times the mark was used to oppose or request to cancel another trade mark.

It’s a potentially useful development, though still quite new. In practice, it’s probably best seen as an extra check in clearance, which might be used occasionally to see if it offers any additional insights.

However, unlike commercial search tools such as Saegis, there is no evidence that the marks you search will be published or visible to others, but equally there’s no express assurance that they’re kept confidential, anonymised or automatically deleted. As such, it would be sensible to avoid using the tool for confidential or strategic marks. Caution would very much be the name of the game.

More information on the tool can be found the EUIPO website here.