UK Trade Marks
Trade mark registration is the most comprehensive protection that can be obtained to protect your business name, brand name, company logo or slogan. Once a trade mark is registered on the UK Trade Marks Register it will be registered for 10 years, the registration is renewable in 10 year periods and can last indefinitely if the registration is renewed at the appropriate time.
Before an application is filed to register a trade mark it is very important to ensure that your proposed trade mark is not identical or confusingly similar to any existing trade marks already on the register, we therefore strongly recommend that a clearance search is completed prior to filing the application on both the United Kingdom and European Community Trade Mark Registers to ensure there are no conflict issues in the class(es) of goods and/or services appropriate for your nature of business.
Furthermore, in order for a trade mark to be registrable it must not consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin of the goods or services. Therefore, we will also offer advice on whether, in our opinion, your proposed trade mark is distinctive enough for registration purposes.
The procedure associated with obtaining a UK trade mark registration will take approximately 6 months to complete. Once the application has been filed the Registrar will issue the filing receipt within 10 days, the receipt will confirm the details entered onto the application. As soon as the receipt has been issued we will then arrange for the application to be examined, as soon as the examination report has been issued we will deal with any matters arising from the report and then arrange for the application to be advertised in 'The Trade Marks Journal'. The application must be published to allow any third party to oppose the application, if an opposition is filed against the application then, if you decide to defend the application, you will become liable to our reasonable legal fees to defend the application. The application must be advertised for three months. If the application is not opposed then the trade mark will become registered.
However, from 6th April 2008 it will be possible to apply for a UK trade mark application to be “fast tracked” that is to say that the application would be examined within 10 days instead of within 45 days. However, the fee to apply for a fast track application in one class is £625 plus VAT (this includes the statutory fee of £500). Please note that a ‘fast track’ application cannot include a claim for a ‘series of marks’ (a number of very similar trade marks included in one application).
The only difference between a ‘fast track’ application and a standard trade mark application is the time taken to examine the application by the Registrar. Once the fast track application has been examined and accepted it will then be published in The Trade Marks Journal for opposition purposes for three months just like a standard trade mark application.
