José Amorim, Sandra Müller and Charlotte Duly of the MARQUES Education Team were delighted to attend the first alumni reunion of the European Trade Mark and Design Education Programme (ETMD EP) in Alicante on 24 October 2025.

The ETMD EP is a comprehensive training course designed to strengthen professional expertise in the field of EU trade marks and designs, with a special focus on the EUIPO’s procedures, practices, and tools.

Whilst the ETMD EP for practitioners focuses on practical legal training for IP counsel to assist and represent clients or employers in trade mark and design matters before the EUIPO, the ETMD EP for paralegals educates IP support professionals on managing all related procedural and operational aspects.

Besides fostering knowledge of the legal framework, the ETMD EP is aimed at creating a network of specifically trained IP professionals, thus facilitating EUIPO procedures.

The MARQUES Education Team has been involved in this educational initiative from its beginning in 2018, with Shane Smyth, José Amorim, Sandra Müller and Charlotte Duly serving as members of the Advisory Council and Examination Board as well as tutors and examiners in the programme.

At this year’s ETMD EP Alumni Event, alumni from both programmes, practitioners and paralegals, came together for the first time at the EUIPO’s premises to celebrate, connect and reflect on the ETMD EP.

The event included presentations from EUIPO staff members, alumni and user association representatives, including a round-table discussion on the exciting topic of “Future of our workplaces and training needs” attended by Team Chair Sandra Müller on behalf of MARQUES.

For the MARQUES Education Team, the involvement in the ETMD EP has been a tremendously positive experience. It has been a great honour to work side by side with colleagues from EUIPO, Academia and other trade mark user associations and to share knowledge with colleagues from all over Europe who are passionate about IP and have the common goal of expanding their horizons beyond domestic jurisprudence.

The programme is aimed at increasing knowledge of the proceedings and practice of the EUIPO using the EUIPO’s tools and systems and improving the interaction between the EUIPO and IP practitioners. How could this work better than to get hands-on guidance directly from EUIPO staff?

And let’s not underestimate the fantastic networking opportunities in a field of law where we are counting on trustworthy relationships with colleagues from all across Europe and beyond. For more information, please visit the EUIPO website.

This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of HouseMARQUES. Picture reproduced with permission of EUIPO