Are you protecting your mark in the right area?

The first level of protection you can acquire is national.

In this situation, you would be registering your mark in the UK. This will allow you prevent any unauthorised party from using your mark or one of a similar nature in the UK. This will be best for a business that will only be using their mark within the UK.

To register a trade mark within the UK, an application needs to be lodged with the UK Intellectual Property Office. They will consider your application as well as be your point of call for any further matters that may arise with that mark if you are successful in your registration.

To submit an application online, the UK IPO fee is £170 for a trade mark registered in one class. In addition, a further £50 will be charged for any additional class that you want to register in. This is in addition to our competitive fees to deal with the application for you. Our fees are £200 plus VAT.

The next level of protection is regional. The key region you will need to consider is the European Union.

This is a system that has had a recent revamp, starting in its new form in March this year. The newly named European Union Intellectual Property Office will be your point of call.

At present, a registration in the EU will cover you in 28 member states so as long as you are genuinely using it in those states. It doesn’t have to be used in all states but enough to show genuine use. The key to this is you must use it in more states that just the UK. Therefore this will be a good option if you operate in the EU at present or plan to in the near future.

The fee to submit an application for one trade mark in the EU in one class of goods and services is €850, again with an additional charge of €50 for each class. Our fee is £350 plus VAT

The last level of protection available is international. Through the Madrid system, you can submit an application to register your mark with a global organisation, e.g. the African Intellectual Property Office, with a single application. Your mark will then be dealt with by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Office.

This level of protection is reserved for a brand that has a high level of recognition. The fees for an application through this system can differ dramatically and is solely dependant on where and what you want to register. If you want to register a mark through this system, please contact us at The Trademarkroom to ensure you have the best chance of success.

For more information, contact Jane Coyle today!

By Ellis Sweetenham