EUIPO and TMview Trademark Search: web tools and API

Searching EU trade marks surfaces existing EU and national marks for you to review before you commit to a name. By hand it is free: EUIPO's eSearch plus covers the EU trade mark register, and TMview sweeps the EU register plus all 27 national offices in one search. From code, TMview has no documented API, but EUIPO's official Trademark Search API does, and this guide shows the calls. Below: both web tools, the TMview search criteria that matter, the API route with examples, the Nice classes that decide most conflicts, the fees, and the honest limits of any register search.

Updated September 2026

What an EU trademark search tells you, and what it does not

An EU register search shows you the marks that have already been filed or registered, so you can judge whether your name is likely to run into a conflict. It is a first screen that surfaces conflicts to review. It does not clear a name, it does not make the similarity judgement for you, and it is not legal advice. Hold that in mind through everything below, because the tools are powerful and the temptation is to read a clean result as a green light. It is not.

EUTM basics: one filing, 27 countries, 10 years

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), based in Alicante, registers the EU trade mark (EUTM). A single EUTM filing gives exclusive rights across all 27 EU member states at once. If you learned this system under its older name, the EUIPO was called the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) until March 2016, and the mark itself was the Community trade mark (CTM) rather than the EUTM. Older guides, textbooks, and court decisions still use both terms, and an OHIM trademark search means the same register you reach through eSearch plus today. It has what the EUIPO calls unitary character: it stands or falls as a whole across the Union, so a conflict in any one member state matters. An EUTM lasts ten years from the filing date and is renewable indefinitely in further ten-year terms. It does not reach non-EU countries such as the UK, Switzerland, or Norway, which each keep their own registers.

The two official EU tools: eSearch plus and TMview

Both are free, need no account, and update daily. They answer slightly different questions.

eSearch plus: EUIPO's own register

eSearch plus is the EUIPO's own database. It searches the EU trade mark register directly, along with registered Community designs, owners, and bulletins, covering every EUTM application and registration since 1996. Reach it from the EUIPO trade mark availability hub at euipo.europa.eu. Use it when you want the EUTM register specifically.

TMview: the multi-office front door

TMview, operated by the EU intellectual property network at tmdn.org/tmview, searches more than 50 million marks across dozens of participating offices worldwide, including the EUTM register, all 27 EU national offices, and WIPO international registrations, in one search. This is the tool that matters most for an EU name check, because a national mark registered in a single member state can block an EU-wide filing, and only the multi-office sweep surfaces it.

How to run a European trademark search step by step

The process is the same in spirit as a US knockout search: start exact, widen to near-matches, then read the results against your classes.

• Search the exact name and close variants. Enter the name in TMview, then in eSearch plus. Try spelling variants, spacing changes, and dropped or doubled letters.
• Search phonetic and visual near-matches. A mark that sounds or looks similar can conflict even when it is spelled differently, so search how the name sounds, not only how it is written. For a figurative mark, search the logo elements, not just words.
• Match against your Nice classes. Identify your goods and services classes with TMclass, then read whether the hits fall in classes that overlap yours.
• Read each result. Check the legal status (application, registered, or expired), the owner, the goods and services, and the filing or priority date to judge whether a hit is a live conflict to review or noise you can set aside.

For a first pass across both the US and EU without learning each interface, the Name Check tool on this site runs an automated register search with exact, phonetic, and fuzzy matching. It is a search that surfaces conflicts, not a legal clearance opinion.

TMview search criteria that matter

TMview's advanced search narrows a sweep of millions of marks to the ones worth reading. The criteria that change the answer most for a name check:

• Offices (territories). Select the EU trade mark register plus the national offices of the countries you will sell in. Leaving all offices on is the safest first pass for an EU-wide filing.
• Nice class. Filter to your goods and services classes, then run a second pass on related classes, since conflicts turn on class overlap.
• Trade mark status. Filed and registered marks are live conflicts to review; expired and withdrawn marks are mostly noise.
• Dates and applicant. Filing dates show who has priority, and the applicant name shows whether several hits belong to one competitor.

Run the exact name first, then variants: TMview matches the words you enter, so spelling and spacing variants need their own searches.

Searching EU trademarks from code: TMview and the EUIPO API

Many developers arrive here after opening the browser network tab on TMview. The TMview website loads its results from internal endpoints on api.tmdn.org, sending your search criteria as the request. Those endpoints are not a documented public API: they are unversioned, can change without notice, and each participating office sets its own terms for its data. They are fine for a quick experiment and fragile in production.

The sanctioned route is EUIPO's own Trademark Search API. You register on the EUIPO developer portal (dev.euipo.europa.eu) for a client ID and secret, build against the sandbox, then request production access. Each call carries an OAuth2 client-credentials token and your client ID, and searches are written as RSQL queries on fields such as the word mark text. The auth and API base URLs for sandbox and production are listed in the portal; set them as the variables below.

# 1. Exchange your client ID and secret for a token (OAuth2 client credentials)
curl -s -X POST "$EUIPO_AUTH_URL" \
  -u "$EUIPO_CLIENT_ID:$EUIPO_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials&scope=uid"

# 2. Search word marks containing a term (RSQL query, up to 50 results)
curl -s "$EUIPO_API_BASE?size=50&query=wordMarkSpecification.verbalElement==*lumen*" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "X-IBM-Client-Id: $EUIPO_CLIENT_ID" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

Two limits to plan for. The EUIPO API covers the EU trade mark register, not the 27 national registers that TMview adds, so a national mark in one member state will not appear. And like the web tools, it returns records to review, not a verdict on similarity. If you would rather not maintain two registrations and two response formats, the Startup Name Generator API and MCP server screens a name against the USPTO and EUIPO registers in one call with exact, phonetic, and fuzzy matching. For the US side of the same question, see the USPTO trademark search API guide.

Why Nice class overlap decides most conflicts

The EU uses the international Nice Classification of 45 classes: classes 1 to 34 are goods and 35 to 45 are services. Protection is granted per class, so a conflict exists only where an earlier mark and yours cover the same or related goods and services. Two identical names in unrelated classes can coexist; two similar names in overlapping classes are where problems surface. That is why identifying your classes with TMclass before you judge a result is not optional busywork, it is what makes the search meaningful. The trademark classes for startups guide maps the classes founders use most.

EUIPO application fees, so you know what registration costs later

If a name survives the search and you decide to file, the EUIPO basic online application fee is EUR 850 for one class, EUR 50 for a second class, and EUR 150 for each additional class beyond two. Fees are the one input that changes, so confirm the current figures on the EUIPO fees page before you file. The how much does a trademark cost guide sets the EU and US numbers side by side.

EU vs US trademark search: what is different

The US has one federal register, searched through the USPTO's system at tmsearch.uspto.gov (the tool that replaced TESS in late 2023). The EU is a two-front-door setup: TMview for the multi-office sweep and eSearch plus for the EUTM register itself. The reason the EU needs the national-register sweep is its structure: an EUTM is Union-wide, so an earlier national mark in any one of 27 countries can stand in the way, and TMview is what brings all of them into a single search. If you are naming for both markets, run both: the USPTO search guide covers the US side in the same depth.

The honest limits of any DIY register search

A register search, however careful, only shows registered and filed marks. It does not catch unregistered or common-law rights where they exist, company or trade names, or a name already in use behind a taken domain. It does not weigh how similar is too similar, or how related two sets of goods are. And it is not legal advice or clearance. A running .com check alongside the search helps here: a taken .com can signal an existing brand even when nothing is on the register. For anything you plan to build a business on, a professional assesses the similarity, class overlap, and rights a register search cannot show. The guide on whether your startup needs a trademark covers when that step is worth it.

Questions, answered

Keep going

• How to Search the USPTO Trademark Register (2026 Guide)
• Knockout Trademark Search: The Founder's First-Pass Checklist
• How to Check a Startup Name: .com and Trademark Search
• Name generators compared: which ones check trademarks

Trademark results are an automated database search against the USPTO and EUIPO registries, not legal advice and not a clearance opinion. Registries change daily; results are dated. Before filing, have counsel run full clearance.