What is an IPO?

Photo of Igor Demcak

Written by Igor Demcak

CEO & Legal Mind

IPO stands for intellectual property office, a government body responsible for the intellectual property of a given country or jurisdiction, including trademarks, patents, etc.

When you apply for a trademark, the IPO will assess your application and, if everything's ok, grant you registration rights and issue your trademark certificate.

Having a trademark registered with an IPO extends your legal rights for fighting infringement, i.e. enables you to send cease and desist letters and, if all else fails, take matters to court.

Generally, each country will have its own IPO. A few exceptions include Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, which share an IPO as Benelux. Additionally, there are countries that have regional offices as well as a shared multi-national IPO, such as the members of the European Union, who have the EUIPO, which grants EU-wide trademarks.

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