Add or import new Applicants and Representatives

When filing a new EUTM application, you can face two different scenarios:

1. you have already participated in a procedure at the EUIPO (existing applicant scenario); or
2. you can be a newcomer to the EUIPO services (new applicant scenario).

i) Existing applicant scenario

If the data of the applicant in the new filing application is already in the system because they have been involved in a previous procedure, the PersonIdentifier (ID number) assigned to the applicant can be used instead of including all applicant’s information.

Endpoint: POST /eutm-filing/applications

{
    ...
    "applicants": [
        {
            "personIdentifier": "1516"
        }
    ],
    …
}

The response will include the applicant information including the PersonIdentifier because the applicant is already in the system.

{
    ...
    "applicants": [
        {
            "type": "APPLICANT_BUSINESS",
            "personIdentifier": "1516",
            "correspondenceRecipient": true,
            "identifier": "4c867e20-943b-4c4f-af3b-b75bb7779683",
            "legalName": "Applicants Holding Ltd",
            "legalForm": "LTD",
            "countryOfIncorporation": "DE",
            "address": {
                "street": "Vestergade 36",
                "city": "Aarhus",
                "postalCode": "8000",
                "country": "DK"
            },
            "phone": "+45 222 333 666",
            "email": applicants.holding@domain.com
        }
    ],
    ...
}

NOTE: equivalent scenario also exists for existing representatives.

ii) New applicant scenario

If it is the first time the user has interacted with the EUIPO, the EUIPO does not have any previous information about the applicant. Therefore, all requisite information about the applicant must be included in the application request. Below we can see an example of an ‘Applicant business’ type request.

Endpoint: POST /eutm-filing/applications

{
    ...
    "applicants": [
        {
            "type": "APPLICANT_BUSINESS",
            "legalName": "Applicants Holding Ltd",
            "legalForm": "LTD",
            "countryOfIncorporation": "DE",
            "address": {
                "street": "Vestergade 36",
                "city": "Aarhus",
                "postalCode": "8000",
                "country": "DK"
            },
            "phone": "+45 222 333 666",
            "email": applicants.holding@domain.com
        }
    ],
    ...
}

The system will return a response containing the submitted data and some extra information. The response will not contain a PersonIdentifier property. Please, do not confuse the identifier with the personIdentifier. The PersonIdentifier will be generated and available once the submission is processed.

{
    ...
    "applicants": [
        {
            "type": "APPLICANT_BUSINESS",
            "correspondenceRecipient": true,
            "identifier": "4c867e20-943b-4c4f-af3b-b75bb7779683",
            "legalName": "Applicants Holding Ltd",
            "legalForm": "LTD",
            "countryOfIncorporation": "DE",
            "address": {
                "street": "Vestergade 36",
                "city": "Aarhus",
                "postalCode": "8000",
                "country": "DK"
            },
            "phone": "+45 222 333 666",
            "email": applicants.holding@domain.com
        }
    ],
    ...
}

The addition of a new person to the database requires some validations. There are two type of validation rules, blocking and non-blocking. For non-blocking validations, those rules that are not adhered to will be included in the response as warnings.

{
    ...
    "warnings": [
        {
            "type": "/problems/application-warned-applicant",
            "title": "Applicant with warnings",
            "detail": "In the applicant, the legal form [CO] does not match one of the valid values for the provided incorporation country [DE]",
            "errorCode": "legal_form_not_match"
        }
    ]
}

When blocking rules are not adhered to, the response will return 400 status code and the relevant information about the validation errors. Example below:

{
    "type": "/problems/application-invalid-applicant",
    "title": "In an applicant, the name is mandatory",
    "detail": "Invalid applicant",
    "status": 400,
    "instance": "/applications"
}

NOTE: equivalent scenario also exists for new representatives.