The online service helps with this, but you may need to take legal advice at this point. You’ll need to set up an account and go through various steps including uploading files and drawings, selecting which classes and sectors you want to register, and then provide a written disclaimer. It costs about £200 and there’s an extra charge of £50 for each additional sector where you want your trademark to be registered. If you’re ready to go ahead, you can apply online for trademark registration at. Where can I register a trademark in the UK? If you spot a problem at this point, get some legal advice. You only need to search in the sectors where you plan to operate. GOV website. You’ll need to check against previously registered trademarks which are segmented into 45 sectors ranging from rope, tent and sailmakers to medical and veterinary services. Actually, yes! Sometimes you will need a lawyer! For most businesses however there’s nothing to stop you from making your own trademark application using the portal on the IPO website.įirst of all you’ll need to check to see if a similar trademark already exists. I need a lawyer to register a trademark, is that right? If that doesn’t look good it can go bottom right instead. If you do wish to display an ® symbol alongside your brand, convention dictates it should be top right. Dig deeper into the website terms of use pages and you’ll find plenty of references to their brands being registered trademarks. Look at the BBC, Asda and John Lewis websites. You don’t have to display an ® symbol on a trademarked logo. If my brand is registered, do I need to display the ® symbol? It has no real basis in law but displays intent and may act as a deterrent to people who might want to ‘borrow’ from you. He had a point! There’s nothing to stop you from using ™ and I’ve previously recommended using ™ for trademarks passing through the registration process (which can take 6-9 months). An old friend of mine used to say that ™ stands for ‘Totally Meaningless’. It’s protected in law, which means that anyone trying to use your registered trademark can be sued for trademark infringement. Top level, the ® symbol stands for ‘Registered Trademark’ and indicates that the brand is registered and protected under the UK Trade Marks Act. For example, you may have a simplified version of your logo for use on your website, and a more detailed version that you use on signage. You can register a series of up to six at a time, just so long as they look the same, sound the same and have the same meaning. They’ll need to be unique, and if you’re putting together a combination (such as a company name, symbol and colour) they’ll need to be arranged in a fixed ‘lock-up’ rather than a series of moving parts. What can I trademark?Īs a business you can trademark your logo, words, sounds, colours or a combination of them. Pursuing someone for passing off something that isn’t registered is going to be time-consuming and expensive. In truth, the only way to protect your brand is by registering it. The law provides you with some protection against people or businesses ‘passing off’ but taking it to court isn’t black and white. If you can prove that you’ve been using your brand or delivering a named product or service, then you’ve got the basis of a legal case. But surely my intellectual property is protected even if I haven’t registered a trademark? I’ve seen it happen and it’s painful to watch. If someone else registers your intellectual property you may have to rebrand, you might lose value in your business and it will suck energy out of you like there’s no tomorrow. If you don’t register your trademarks, there’s a risk that somebody else will register them as their own. It’s not difficult to apply for registration, and once you’ve got it, you’re covered for ten years. If you’ve invested time, money and energy in creating and establishing a brand you’ll understand the need to protect it. The reason that many businesses DO register trademarks is to protect themselves. You don’t have to register your trademark, and indeed many businesses don’t. In this short article I’ll cover a few basics, tackle a few myths, and point you in the right direction for registering a trademark. Questions often come up about trademarking logos, brands, products and services.
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