Conversion of an application: documents to prepare

Conversion turns a European Union trade mark application or registration that has stopped producing effect into a set of national applications, one for each state where protection is still wanted. The original filing date carries over into every national file. What does not carry over automatically is the paperwork itself, because each national office asks for its own set of documents, in its own language, inside a window that starts running the moment the EU right ceases.

What changes once conversion starts

Before conversion, one office — the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — handles a single file covering the whole Union. After conversion, every chosen state runs its own procedure on its own clock, applying its own formal requirements. A refusal in one state no longer affects protection in the others, and each national office reaches its own decision independently of what happened elsewhere.

The point of no return sits at the moment the conversion request is filed. Once the file reaches a national office, withdrawing that national application follows the rules of that country, not the rules that applied to the original EU right. Choosing which states to enter is a decision made once, with consequences that then run separately in each jurisdiction, on different timetables, with different people handling correspondence.

Steps to prepare a conversion request

The applicant, usually through counsel, moves through the same sequence regardless of which ground triggered the loss of the EU right.

1. Confirm the ground. Refusal, withdrawal, non-renewal and revocation each open the conversion window on a different date; counsel checks which one applies before preparing anything else, since the file that documents the ground differs case by case.
2. Fix the target states. The applicant lists only the states where protection is still commercially relevant; there is no obligation to convert into every state the EU right once covered, and each additional state adds a separate national file to manage.
3. Assemble the core file. A copy of the original application or registration, the list of goods and services as filed, and proof of the applicant's identity and representation go into every national dossier, regardless of which state receives it.
4. Translate. Each national office works in its own official language; the list of goods and services and any supporting statement need a certified translation for that specific office.
5. Appoint local representation where required. Several national offices ask for an address for service inside the country; counsel arranges this before the file is sent, not after a deficiency notice arrives.
6. Pay the national fee. Each office publishes its own fee schedule and payment method; the request counts as complete only once the fee clears, not on the day it is submitted.

Who decides and on what timeline

EUIPO decides only whether the conversion request itself is admissible, and then forwards it on. It does not decide whether the mark is registrable in any given state; that decision belongs to each national office, applying its own examination practice. Because the national legs run independently, one state can grant registration while another raises an objection on grounds that never came up during the EU proceeding.

Where the loss of the EU right followed a contested proceeding rather than a simple non-renewal, the timing of conversion depends on when that proceeding actually closes. A dispute that also involves a request for interim relief runs on a different clock again, closer to the logic set out in How preliminary injunction patent what the decision maker looks than to the conversion timetable, and the two should not be planned around a single deadline.

Common scenarios

If the EU application was refused on absolute grounds that apply in only one member state, conversion is normally still open for the remaining states, since a refusal confined to one state does not extend automatically to the others.

If the EU registration lapsed through non-renewal rather than refusal, the file is simpler, since there is no adverse decision to document, only proof of the original registration and the date it ceased.

If the mark is also used under a technology licence covering its digital presentation, check that agreement separately before converting; a clause such as Limitation of liability in technology contracts can cap what the licensor owes if the converted applications leave gaps in coverage.

If the same sign also functions as an identifier in a token distribution, the evidentiary questions differ again, and What distribution token issuance how it is proved means covers how that separate proof is built.

What this page does not cover

This page does not rank which states are worth converting into, and it does not size the combined cost of running several national files in parallel; those are commercial decisions, not procedural ones. It also does not cover how a mark's changing status across several jurisdictions is reflected in a company's asset register, a separate question that Asset in Lithuania explained addresses on its own terms.

Verified

Checked against the procedural guidance currently published by EUIPO and by the national offices named above. Procedural detail changes between updates; confirm current form requirements and fee schedules directly with the relevant office before filing, since a schedule quoted from memory is rarely still accurate by the time a file is due.

Related publications

A related but separate document set applies where the original EU right carried a claimed seniority or priority date; How seniority and priority claims trade mark documents to sets out what to prepare there, and the two files are often assembled side by side.

Next steps

Send us the EU decision or notice that triggered the loss of the right, along with the list of states you want to keep covered. We reply within minutes during business hours, and a price for preparing the conversion file follows within one working day.

Conversion often surfaces during a dispute over an existing brand rather than as a stand-alone filing decision; When a rebrand collides with an earlier right explained sets out one path that leads to conversion.

A related dossier, sitting on a different problem with a similar cost pattern, is described in What it costs to be wrong in this situation.

Frequently asked questions

How long does conversion of an application take in practice?

There is no single figure, because the national legs run in parallel on independent clocks. The request itself is processed by EUIPO in one step; after that, each national office applies its own examination timetable, so a file covering three target states rarely finishes on the same day in all three.

Which documents are needed to start?

A copy of the original EU application or registration, the list of goods and services as filed, proof of representation, a certified translation for each target state, and evidence that the national fee has been paid. Some states also require a local address for service before the file counts as complete.

What happens if the other side does not respond?

If the loss of the EU right followed a contested proceeding and the other party takes no further step, the underlying decision usually becomes final, which is exactly what opens the conversion window. Once the request moves to the national stage, each office examines it on its own merits, and the earlier opponent's silence does not carry over into those separate proceedings.

— Ruta Kavaliauskaite, AURELIS