Why it matters to keep the owner's details up to date in trade mark, patent and domain name registers

Updated on 27 September 2026. We have corrected which law governs each register (patents have their own Act, and mergers are now governed by Royal Decree-Law 5/2023) and added the procedures, the fees of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) in force since 1 April 2026 and the deadlines you should not miss.

It happens more often than you might think: a trade mark still registered in the name of a founder who died years ago, or of a company that has already been struck off the Registro Mercantil (Companies Register). The trade mark does not disappear because of that, but the office keeps writing to someone who is no longer there, notifications reach nobody and, when the time comes to sell the business, grant a licence or take action against an imitator, the register does not match reality.

In this guide you will see which of the owner's details need checking (who is registered as the owner and the address where notifications are sent), what happens if changes are not recorded and how to deal with the two most common situations: the death of the owner and the reorganisation or dissolution of a company. We cover Spanish trade marks and patents, EU and international trade marks, and domain names.

Why the details on the register matter

• A transfer can only be relied on against third parties acting in good faith once it has been recorded. This is laid down in Article 46.3 of the Trade Marks Act (Ley 17/2001, de Marcas) and, for patents and utility models, in Article 79.2 of the Patents Act (Ley 24/2015, de Patentes). In addition, a right over a patent that has not been recorded cannot be invoked against third parties (Article 79.3).
• The Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office) sends notifications to the address shown on the register. If it fails after two attempts, it publishes the notification in the Boletín Oficial de la Propiedad Industrial (BOPI, the Official Industrial Property Gazette) and time limits run all the same (Article 29.5 of the Trade Marks Act).
• Since 14 January 2023, the OEPM itself has had the power to decide applications for invalidity and revocation of trade marks, for example for five years of non-use. With an out-of-date address, you may find out once the decision has already been taken.
• Rights lapse if they are not maintained. A trade mark lasts ten years from the filing date and can be renewed for further ten-year periods. Renewal is requested in the six months before expiry or, with a 25% or 50% surcharge, in the six months after (Articles 31 and 32 of the Trade Marks Act). A patent lasts twenty years with no extension and requires the payment of annual fees. If one is not paid on time or within the following six months with a surcharge, the patent lapses, unless the fee fell due after the grant was published: in that case payment can still be regularised, with an additional fee, until the next annual fee falls due (Articles 58, 108.3, 184.3 and 185 of the Patents Act).

For .es domain names, Order ITC/1542/2005, which approves the National Plan for domain names, requires the holder to provide true and accurate details and to report any change immediately. Otherwise, the domain may be cancelled (section thirteen).

Three different procedures: owner, name and address

1. Change of owner (assignment or transfer): the right passes to another person through a sale, an inheritance, a merger or an allocation in a liquidation.
2. Change of name: the person is the same but their name changes; for example, when a company changes its registered name.
3. Change of address: only the address changes.

None of them reaches the register on its own: the OEPM is not informed by the Companies Register or by the notary. You have to apply yourself. Assignments are governed by Article 49 of the Trade Marks Act, Article 30 of its Regulations (approved by Royal Decree 687/2002) and Article 77 of the Patent Regulations (approved by Royal Decree 316/2017); changes of name or address by Article 45 of the Trade Marks Regulations and Article 78 of the Patent Regulations. You can group several registrations in a single application: for a change of name or address, all those belonging to the same owner; for an assignment, only if the current owner and the new owner are the same for all of them.

OEPM fees according to its schedule in force since 1 April 2026, per registration affected:

Notary costs and, if a professional represents you, their fees may be added to these amounts.

When the owner dies

Under Article 659 of the Civil Code (Código Civil), the estate comprises all the assets, rights and obligations of a person that are not extinguished by their death. Trade marks, patents and the right to use a domain name therefore pass to the heirs.

The transfer is valid even if it is not recorded. But as long as the register remains in the deceased's name, the heirs cannot rely on their right against third parties acting in good faith, and notifications will go to an address where nobody collects them. What you should do:

• Include each asset in the deed of inheritance, identified by its number or name. To record the change, the OEPM asks for the public document proving the acquisition by inheritance, usually the deed of acceptance and allocation of the estate (Article 49 of the Trade Marks Act and the instructions to the OEPM assignment form).
• If they were left out of the partition, it does not have to be undone: Article 1079 of the Civil Code allows it to be completed or supplemented with the omitted assets. Even so, it is an extra step.
• Renew without waiting for the estate to be settled. Renewal of a trade mark may be requested by the owner's successors in title, who must prove that status (Article 32.1 of the Trade Marks Act).
• Put it in writing if there are several heirs, because the trade mark will belong to them jointly. Under Article 46.1 of the Trade Marks Act, licences and use by each co-owner must be agreed, any of them may defend it after notifying the others and, if one sells their share, the others have a preferential right to buy it (rights of first refusal and redemption, tanteo y retracto). Bear in mind that the OEPM does not record transfers in favour of entities without legal personality (Article 34.6 of the Trade Marks Regulations): the heirs must appear in their own names.

In addition, the trade mark or patent is one more asset for Inheritance Tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones) purposes and must be declared at its value.

For .es domain names, the National Plan allows the successor on death (and also in a universal succession between living persons, or where the trade mark associated with the domain is assigned) to keep using it by requesting a change of the registration details (section twelve, paragraph 2, of Order ITC/1542/2005). On dominios.es this is processed as a "special transfer", with the documents that prove the succession.

When the owner is a company

Mergers, divisions and global transfers of assets and liabilities

These transactions are governed by Book One of Royal Decree-Law 5/2023 of 28 June, which replaced Law 3/2009 on structural modifications of companies (Ley 3/2009, de modificaciones estructurales de las sociedades mercantiles). In a merger, the new or absorbing company acquires by universal succession the assets of the companies that cease to exist (Article 34), and the same happens in a division and in a global transfer of assets and liabilities. There is no need for a trade mark-by-trade mark assignment, but the register will keep showing the dissolved company until you apply for the change to be recorded. The merger deed or a certificate from the Companies Register, for example, can be used to prove it (Article 49.3 of the Trade Marks Act).

If you sell the whole business, the trade mark goes with it, unless otherwise agreed or unless the circumstances clearly indicate otherwise (Article 47.1 of the Trade Marks Act). Make this clear in the contract and then record it.

Dissolution and liquidation

The liquidators must draw up an inventory and a balance sheet within three months of the opening of the liquidation (Article 383 of the Capital Companies Act, Ley de Sociedades de Capital). Include the trade marks, patents and domain names, decide what happens to each one (sell it, knowingly let it lapse or allocate it to a shareholder) and record the change. Bear in mind that shareholders are entitled to receive their liquidation quota in cash: allocating an asset to a shareholder requires the unanimous agreement of all of them or a provision in the articles of association (Article 393 of the same Act).

If the company is struck off the Companies Register with trade marks still in its name, the rules on after-discovered assets apply (Article 398 of the same Act): the liquidators must allocate to the former shareholders what is due to them (selling those assets first if necessary) and, if they have not done so six months after being asked to, any interested party may ask the court to appoint someone to replace them. This is much slower and more expensive than dealing with it beforehand.

Change of company name or registered office

Apply to the OEPM for the change of name (fee payable) or of address (no fee for trade marks), and also update your details with the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office), WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and the registrar of your domain names.

EU trade marks, international trade marks and generic domain names

• EU trade mark. It is managed by the EUIPO. As long as the assignment has not been recorded, the new owner cannot invoke the rights arising from the registration, and the Office keeps sending notifications to the person registered as owner (Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, Article 20, paragraphs 11 and 13). Changes of name or address are governed by Article 55. None of these procedures appears among the fees in its Annex I.
• International trade mark (Madrid System). Changes are recorded in the International Register kept by WIPO (form MM5 for a change of owner and MM9 for a change of name or address). It is a separate register from the national one: updating one does not update the other.
• .com, .net and other generic domain names. The ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement (section 3.7.7) requires registrars to make you undertake, in the registration agreement, to provide accurate details and to correct them within seven days of any change. Wilfully providing inaccurate details or failing to update them, or failing to respond for more than fifteen days to the registrar's enquiry about their accuracy, allows the domain to be suspended or cancelled.

Risks of not keeping the registers up to date

• Losing the trade mark or patent by failing to renew or pay on time, or finding out too late about an opposition or an application for invalidity or revocation.
• Being unable to enforce your right against someone who acquired in good faith or against someone using it without permission.
• Delaying transactions such as the sale of the business, a licence or financing, because the register does not match reality.
• Losing your domain name. According to dominios.es, if the renewal of a .es domain is not paid, the domain is deactivated and, ten days after its expiry date, it is deregistered and becomes available to anyone. It can also be cancelled if false or incorrect details appear in its registration.
• Disputes between heirs or shareholders, which end up in supplementary partitions of the estate or in court.

How to bring everything up to date

1. Take stock of your trade marks (national, EU and international), trade names, patents, utility models and domain names, and check the owner, address, email, representative and renewal or payment dates for each one. The details can be checked free of charge in the OEPM's trade mark locator (Localizador de marcas), in the EUIPO's eSearch plus and in WIPO's Madrid Monitor.
2. Gather the document proving the change: the deed of inheritance or merger, the assignment contract or a certificate from the register.
3. File the application through the OEPM's online office: it is cheaper than on paper. If the new owner is not resident in the European Union, they must act through an industrial property agent (Article 175.2 of the Patents Act).
4. Update the other registers: EUIPO, WIPO and the registrar of each domain name.
5. Set up expiry reminders and use a company email address that does not depend on a single person.

The OEPM has a maximum of six months to decide on recording the assignment of a trade mark, or eight if it asks you to correct defects (Fifth Additional Provision of the Trade Marks Act).

Common mistakes

• Believing that the Companies Register or the notary will inform the OEPM.
• Confusing renewal with a change of owner: renewing does not change the owner.
• Keeping the trade mark in the name of a founding shareholder while the company exploits it, with no written assignment or licence.
• Registering the domain in the name of the web agency, an employee or the provider.
• Liquidating the company without deciding what happens to its trade marks and domain names.

Frequently asked questions

Is it compulsory to record the change of owner?

There is no fine for not doing so, but without recordal you cannot rely on your right against third parties acting in good faith, the office will keep notifying the previous owner and, for an EU trade mark, you will not be able to invoke the rights arising from the registration. In practice, it is essential.

Can a trade mark that lapsed because it was not renewed be recovered?

Only in exceptional cases, through restoration of rights (restablecimiento de derechos). You must show that all due care was taken, apply within two months of the removal of the obstacle and file the missed renewal at the same time. There is also an absolute limit: one year from the date on which the trade mark expired, because, where the missed step was renewal, the six-month grace period with a surcharge is deducted from that year. In practice, you have six months from the end of the grace period (Article 25.2 of the Trade Marks Act and Article 47 of its Regulations). It is not available if, in the meantime, a third party acting in good faith has applied for or registered an identical or similar sign (Article 25.7). The fee is €91.35 online. For patents, the limit for an unpaid annual fee is twelve months from the end of the surcharge payment period (Article 53.2 of the Patents Act).

In short

Check who is registered as the owner of each trade mark, patent and domain name and which address its notifications go to, and apply for the change in every register as soon as there is an inheritance, a merger or a liquidation. That way you will be able to renew on time, enforce your right against third parties and transfer it when you need to.

If you have inherited a trade mark or a domain name, are about to merge or liquidate a company or want to check that your registrations are in order, we can review it with you: you can book a tax and business advisory consultation. If it stems from an inheritance, our guide to the first steps in an inheritance may help and, if the heirs cannot agree, see our article on what to do when an heir blocks an inheritance.

Important: this article is for information only, reflects the law in force on 27 September 2026 and is not a substitute for personalised legal advice.

Legislation and sources

• Law 17/2001 of 7 December on Trade Marks (consolidated text)
• Royal Decree 687/2002, Implementing Regulations of the Trade Marks Act
• Law 24/2015 of 24 July on Patents (consolidated text)
• Royal Decree 316/2017, Implementing Regulations of the Patents Act
• Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark
• Civil Code (Articles 659 and 1079)
• Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010, Capital Companies Act (Articles 383, 393 and 398)
• Royal Decree-Law 5/2023 of 28 June (structural modifications of companies)
• Order ITC/1542/2005, National Plan for domain names under ".es"
• dominios.es: frequently asked questions (in Spanish)
• ICANN: Registrar Accreditation Agreement (2013)
• OEPM: fees and public prices from 1 April 2026