Europe’s trademark litigation hotspots revealed

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Europe’s trademark litigation hotspots revealed

darts-teaser-comp.jpg

Using exclusively sourced data, Managing IP analyses trademark litigation filings in five major European countries and looks at some of the reasons behind the numbers

Where were the most trademark litigations filed in Europe over the last five years? Where are cases growing, and where are they declining? Which are the top 10 courts?

Managing IP has dug into trademark litigation filings in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands from 2015 to 2019 and answered these questions and more.

Using statistics from the Darts-IP database, we have provided a breakdown of five-year trends in each country, with insight from sources on the ground. You can read the full report here (note: you will need a subscription or to take a free trial).

We can reveal that nearly 7,000 disputes were filed from 2015 to 2019, with the UK and Germany leading the pack in the number of cases.

However, there have also been some notable declines. In France, for example, trademark litigation cases have dropped by 64% since 2015.

In fact, Italy was the only country of the five that saw an increase in cases – albeit a small rise of 4%.

Sources suggested that national and EU court decisions might have influenced litigation strategies, as have general perceptions of some countries’ judicial systems.  

We chose not to analyse case filings from 2020 (which are not available in full) because we believed they were likely to muddy the waters. Although many courts handled virtual litigation last year (and still are), there was significant disruption to court cases – and to enforcement too. We will report on the data when it becomes available.

With thanks to Darts-IP, which is part of Clarivate, for supplying the data. And again, the full report is here

We will be publishing more data from Darts-IP in due course. The next instalment will focus on patent litigation hotspots across Europe. 

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The firm explains how it secured a $170.6 million verdict against the government in a patent dispute surrounding airport technology, and why the case led to interest from other inventors
Developments of note included the court partially allowing a claim concerning confidentiality clubs and a decision involving technology used in football matches
The firm said adding capability in the French capital completes its coverage of all major patent litigation jurisdictions as it strives for UPC excellence
Marc Fenster explains how keeping the jury focused on the most relevant facts helped secure a $279m win for his client against Samsung
Clients are divided on what externally funded IP firms bring to the table, so those firms must prove why the benefits outweigh the downsides
Rahul Bhartiya, AI coordinator at the EUIPO, discusses the office’s strategy, collaboration with other IP offices, and getting rid of routine tasks
A boom in transactional work and a heightened awareness of IP have helped boost revenue for the rebranded commercial services team
Clemens Heusch, head of global litigation and dispute resolution at Nokia, tells us why open conversations – and respectful challenges – lead to the best results
Siegmund Gutman, who joined Mintz one year ago, explains the firm’s approach to life sciences litigation and what it means for hiring plans
The merger of two IP boutiques could prompt others to follow suit and challenge Australia’s externally funded firms
Gift this article