To obtain protection in Luxembourg, your trademark must be registered through the Benelux system, not as a purely national Luxembourg filing. Luxembourg forms part of Benelux, together with Belgium and the Netherlands, and all trademark applications are filed before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). A single Benelux trademark grants protection in the three member countries.
You can also obtain protection in Luxembourg by:
- Registering a European Union trademark (EUTM), which covers all EU Member States, or
- Extending an international registration via the Madrid System to Benelux.
Benelux is a “first-to-file” jurisdiction, so registration is generally necessary to obtain rights over a trademark. Only in exceptional cases can well-known, unregistered marks be protected. Prior use is not a filing requirement, but evidence of use may help overcome objections based on lack of distinctiveness.