Trademark Registration for Businesses in the UK

Once you have done your research and zeroed down on the name or branding, you have to follow below listed steps to register your trademark:

1. Apply for the Trademark Registration :

In the United Kingdom, UPIO is the authorized government body where you have to submit your application for the trademark registration. You can start your application process on the government site of UPIO. You need to be very careful when you are applying for the trademark registration because once applied, it cannot be changed.

2. Select who is registering the trademark :

Once you have started your application process on the UPIO website, you will be asked if you are registering the same for yourself or on behalf of a company. In case you are doing the registration of someone else or for a company, you have to select if you are authorized to do so i.e. in case you are a lawyer or a solicitor. In case you are not, you can select the option “the owner of the trademark or authorized person within their business” and go to the next page.

3. Fill in your details :

In case you are registering for the first time, you have to fill in your details against the specified section otherwise you can retrieve your details by using your registered email id. You need to give your complete postal address because that’s the address which UPIO office will be using for any further correspondence with you.

4. Enter the basic format of trademark :

Under this section, you will be asked if your trademark has words, letters or numbers because majority of the trademarks have the same. So, you need to be very sure about the basic format of your trademark and based on that you can select YES/NO. In case you have selected YES, it will ask you to enter the name of your trademark, which needs to be filled carefully. Because once you have applied your trademark, it cannot be changed.

5. Enter a more advanced format of your trademark and upload an image :

in this section, you will be asked to fill in more detailed version of your trademark and you need to choose from three given options:

a. Option A If your trademark has no particular styling or graphics and has words, letters or numbers, you have to choose this option.

b. Option B It is most used option and you need to choose this option in case your trademark has words, letters or numbers in a particular style, color or with a picture.

c. Option C This is least used option and is opted only when your trademark is an unusual type of trademark such as a musical score etc.

Once you have selected the desired option, you will be asked to upload the image or sound (in case of option C).

6. Choose a single or series trademark :

As it is quite clear from the heading, in this step you will be asked if you are registering a single trademark which is done for just one word, phrase/design or you are doing the same for series of trademark. Later one obviously comes at a higher cost, with $50 per variation but it also gives you bulletproof protection.

7. Select your class and term :

You can find your class term by searching the database with the desired keyword or you can do the same by selecting a class and going through the term listed under it. In case you are not able to locate your class and its term, you can speak to your lawyer regarding the same.

8. Supply a disclaimer :

Under this section you will be asked for a disclaimer against your trademark. In most of the cases, disclaimer is not required because the broad description given against is good enough. However, if you still want to give the same, you can go ahead with the same.

9. Decide for a normal or priority claim filing :

You can opt for this option only if you have applied for this particular trademark outside UK in the last six months. In any other case, you can click on the next and move to the next page.

10. Select type of trademark :

Here you have to select the type of the trademark i.e. if its falls under trademark, collective mark or certification mark; however in most of the cases, it will be trademark. Once you have selected your relevant option, you can move on to the next page.

11. Select your trademark examination type :

Under this section, you will be asked to choose your option from the given ones, i.e. standard or right-start. In case you have opted for standard examination, you have to pay £170 and wait for 20 days before you get the result. You have to pay the fees upfront and it is non-refundable. However, in case you choose to go for right-start examination, you have to pay £200 in total and wait for around 20 days. However, the fees need not to be paid in total upfront. You have to pay half of it before and rest after getting the result. So, it saves you £100 in case your application gets rejected for whatever reasons.

On the last page, you will get to review the filled details and here you can edit/modify any detail in case you wish to do so. You need to be very careful here because once you do the payment and click on the submit button, you can make any further modification(s) in your application. Once your application is submitted, you will get the feedback on your application, also called as an examiner report within 20 days of submitting the same. In case there is no objection on your application, same will be published in the trademarks journal for approximately 2 months during which anyone can oppose to your published application. In case there is no objection raised during this time, your trademark will get registered with UPIO. However, in case there is any opposition raised against your published application, you can do either of the below:

• You can either withdraw your application,
• You can have a word with the person who is making the opposition, or
• You can defend your application.

Irrespective of the step you are going to take, your trademark will not be registered until the matter is settled. Once the matter is settled, your trademark will get registered with the UPIO. However, you must inform the governing body regarding any changes to your name, address or email id. A registered trademark also allows you to object to other’s trademarks, in case you find them any close to yours.