Intellectual and Industrial Property in Spain: Trademarks, Patents and Claims 2026

# Intellectual and Industrial Property in Spain: Trademarks, Patents and Claims 2026

Spain protects rights over immaterial creations through two distinct systems:

• Intellectual property (PI): copyright over literary, artistic, musical works, software, databases. Governed by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 (LPI). Protection is automatic from creation, lasting the author's lifetime plus 70 years.
• Industrial property (PII): trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs. Governed by the Trademark Act 17/2001 and Patent Act 24/2015.

Trademark registration

The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) manages national trademark registrations, valid for 10 years (renewable indefinitely). The EUIPO in Alicante handles EU trademark registrations, granting protection across all 27 EU member states.

Infringement actions

Trademark owners can bring: cessation actions, damages claims (choosing between infringer's profits, actual losses, or hypothetical royalties), product destruction, and publication of judgment. Courts: Tribunales de Instancia Mercantiles. Limitation period: 5 years.

Lexiel helps commercial IP/IPL lawyers find case law from Spanish Mercantile Courts, the Supreme Court and the CJEU on trademark infringement, copyright and patents, and draft claims with verified citations.