To document trademark use, retain evidence of the mark’s actual presence on the market: branded products or packaging, distributed catalogues, sales pages, invoices and contracts. Link each item to a date, a territory and the goods or services concerned. A registration certificate alone does not demonstrate that use.
The best approach is to build this file as part of day-to-day business. The legal assessment then depends on the proceedings, the relevant period and the facts: no checklist of documents can, by itself, guarantee that use will be recognised.
First, identify the question each office is asking
In France, a trademark that has been registered for at least five years may be subject to revocation for non-use, particularly where it has not been put to genuine use for an uninterrupted period of five years without proper reasons for non-use. Evidence of use may also be required from the owner of an earlier trademark that has been registered for at least five years, where that trademark is relied upon in opposition proceedings and the applicant requests proof of use. The relevant reference periods vary depending on the procedure.
For a European Union trademark, the EUIPO examines, in particular, the place, time, extent and nature of use in relation to the goods or services concerned. Such use must be genuine and intended to create or preserve a market for those goods or services, rather than being merely token use. These factors are assessed as a whole: a piece of evidence that is insufficient on its own may contribute to a coherent body of evidence, whereas a mere logo or trademark registration certificate is not, in itself, sufficient to establish genuine use.
What should the evidence file contain?
The most useful file tells a coherent story rather than relying on a single document. It combines materials showing the mark as customers encounter it with records that establish when, where and in relation to which goods or services that use occurred.
Scroll the table to read all columns.
| Record | What it may help establish | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice or order | Transaction date, destination and commercial activity | Can the sale be connected to the mark and goods? |
| Packaging, label or product photo | How the mark appears on real goods | Is the material dated and tied to the relevant market? |
| Catalogue, brochure or advertising | Offer made under the mark | Was it distributed during the relevant period? |
| Dated website capture | Online presentation of goods or services | Retain URL, capture date and market context |
The evidence required to demonstrate use of a trademark for services differs from that relating to physical goods. A booking page, a brochure describing the services offered, a contract or an invoice may help establish the link between the trademark and the services concerned, provided that their context and date can be established. Original documents should be retained whenever possible.
A four-point review before an item enters the file
For each record, ask: does it show the mark as actually used; can we place it within the relevant period; does it identify the market; and can we connect it to the goods or services and, where needed, the scale of activity? A weak item may still help when combined with others. The point of this review is to identify what the collection shows and what is missing.
A workable process for a multi-country portfolio
1. Use the trademark record as the starting point
Identify the exact registration or application, owner, jurisdiction and goods or services. The same brand name may sit across several registrations, subsidiaries and markets. Evidence should not be dropped into a single unlabelled brand folder.
2. Add a few useful labels to every item
Record the date or period, source, territory, goods or services and the mark shown. A short description, such as “2026 UK packaging for product line A”, makes later review faster than a generic filename. Preserve the original record where possible.
3. Keep the commercial context
A website screenshot should remain understandable independently of the website itself: it should include the URL, the date of capture, the full page and a clear link to the offer actually made available to the relevant public. Invoices may be supplemented by catalogues or labels where the trademark does not clearly appear on them. The aim is to be able to explain what each document demonstrates.
4. Give local teams a simple route to contribute
Marketing often holds campaign material, sales holds transaction records, and legal owns the trademark register. Assign one person to review completeness. Collect records when a product launches, a market opens or packaging changes, then run a short periodic review to flag gaps across the portfolio.
5. Review the file with counsel before using it
Before submitting any evidence to an intellectual property office or a court, or disclosing it to an opposing party, the intellectual property attorney verifies the relevant period, the consistency between the sign as used and the registered trademark, the territorial scope, and the goods or services for which genuine use has actually been demonstrated. Proper document management facilitates this assessment but does not replace it.
Illustrative scenario: one brand, two markets
Imagine Brand A used for skincare products sold in France and the UK. The French file contains a dated photograph of branded packaging, a catalogue distributed during the relevant period and invoices identifying the product range. Together, these items connect the mark, the offer and sales to a market. Counsel still needs to review the right, period and goods at issue.
The UK file contains an unpublished campaign mock-up and an undated screenshot with no clear UK market context. The team asks sales for UK transaction records, marketing for the distributed catalogue and the web owner for a dated capture of the live offer. It records the gap against the UK right rather than treating a proposed campaign as proof of use. If a US filing is also planned, US counsel selects an actual specimen that meets USPTO requirements; the EU or UK collection is not submitted unchanged.
Common gaps to catch early
- Saving only the registration certificate or the standalone logo.
- Keeping website screenshots without dates, URLs or evidence of the target market.
- Relying on invoices that cannot be connected to the mark or the claimed goods.
- Mixing records from different entities, jurisdictions or product lines.
- Using a digital mock-up as though it showed real commercial use in a US specimen filing.
Q&A
What counts as evidence of genuine trademark use?
It is a document, or a combination of documents, that establishes genuine use of the trademark, consistent with its essential function of indicating commercial origin, in the relevant market, for the goods or services concerned and during the relevant period. A mere intention to market goods or services, or purely token use, is insufficient. The evidential value of each element depends on the circumstances and the applicable law.
Does one invoice prove use?
Not necessarily. It may establish a date and transaction, but other records may be needed to connect that transaction to the mark, goods and relevant territory. The answer depends on the legal test and the evidence as a whole.
Is a website screenshot enough?
A website screenshot may be useful as evidence. It is recommended to retain its date, URL and the context of the offer. According to the EUIPO Guidelines, the mere presence of a trademark on a website does not automatically establish genuine use: the targeted territory, the relevant period and the extent of use must also be demonstrated by the evidence submitted. However, an undated screenshot is not necessarily disregarded if other evidence provides sufficient context.
Can one evidence pack cover every country and product?
It is necessary to verify the goods or services concerned by the proceedings, as the same body of evidence does not automatically establish use for all categories of goods or services. However, for a European Union trademark, evidence of use in each individual Member State is not systematically required. The territorial extent of use is assessed as a whole, taking into account the relevant market and the specific circumstances of the case.
How long should evidence be retained?
There is no single retention period applicable to all trademarks and jurisdictions. In France and the European Union, five-year periods are central to proving genuine use, although the precise period for which use must be demonstrated varies depending on the proceedings. It is therefore advisable to retain evidence regularly and over the long term, in accordance with a document retention policy tailored to the trademark portfolio.
Turn evidence collection into a routine
A well-organized evidence file enables the intellectual property team to answer a specific question: which documents cover this trademark registration, this period, these goods or services, and this market? IPzen allows documents associated with trademark records and related matters to be centralized. This organization makes it easier to retrieve evidence and identify potential gaps, without prejudging its evidential value. To discover how this works, request an IPzen demonstration using a trademark from your own portfolio.