Protection of unregistered trademarks at European Union level

The main objective of the research is to analyze the level of protection of unregistered trademarks in the European Union and to examine whether a stronger harmonization in connection to their protection could be achieved. The research found that the protection of unregistered trademarks is not harmonized at the European Union level. Since their protection is not prohibited at the national level either, the EU legal instruments only regulate their possible effect on registered rights. The research also shows that, historically, the protection of registered trademarks outweighed unregistered trademarks in importance because their increasing economic value and the development of cross-border commerce required means of protection that offer more legal certainty. On this basis, and also analyzing the experience of some jurisdictions where unregistered trademarks are still protected, the thesis proposes possible options to harmonize the protection of unregistered trademarks at the European Union level.