Registering Trademarks
We regularly act for businesses registering their trademarks

If your business currently has EU but not UK Intellectual Property rights you should consider whether to apply for additional UK protection for your existing rights.

Trademark Protection in the UK

Following the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the EU we currently recommend that you protect your trademark with the UK patent office as well as using the EU Member Countries. This is because we believe there could be a “registration gap” when Brexit takes effect where your trademark could risk exposure.

If you want UK only the IP office charges are £170 (pay at time of filing online) plus £50 per class (category such as sports wear for example). Usually 4 to 12 categories need paying to protect. Our current charges for registering a trademark at the UK Patent office is £540 plus vat on an unopposed application and £200 plus vat an hour if the application is opposed and we need to fight for registration on your behalf.

If you want to use your trade mark in countries other than the UK, you can apply to the trade mark office in each country however there is also a universal system;-

Trade Mark Protection in EU Member Countries

Community Trade Mark

If you want trade mark protection in countries which are members of the European Union (EU), you can apply for a Community Trade Mark (CTM) through the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), based in Alicante, Spain. The trade mark application fee is €900 (euros) for up to 3 classes of goods and services (€1050 if filed on a paper form). Each additional class is €150.

Classes of goods and services

OHIM has adopted the Nice Classification for classifying goods and services. The Nice Classification divides the goods and services into 45 categories (or classes). Your €900 application fee enables you to choose up to three classes. For an additional fee of €150 per class, you can add as many additional classes of goods and services as you like. The Nice Classification assigns goods to Classes 1 to 34, and services to Classes 35 to 45. Each class is represented by a class heading, which gives general information about the type of goods or services covered. For example, the Class 25 heading reads ‘Clothing; footwear; headgear’ and the Class 15 heading ‘Musical instruments’. Each class contains a set of terms within that class to better define the goods or services to be protected by the CTM application.

The Nice Classification can be searched using TMclass, an interactive search tool that is available in all the official EU languages, as well as in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Turkish. It is worth noting that the original list of goods and services included in a CTM application can only be limited, not extended. In other words, you may not add any goods, services or classes to the application as originally filed. At the time of filing, you can indicate any number of classes, but only three are covered by the application fee. If you choose more than three, a fee is payable for each additional one.

Who can apply for a CTM?

Anyone can file a community trade mark application at OHIM, but you must appoint a representative for all proceedings before the Office if you do not have a place of business, a real and effective establishment or your domicile in the European Union. You can only choose a fully qualified legal professional (such as a solicitor or barrister) or a specialist in IP law. General legal practitioners, such as solicitors and barristers, are automatically qualified to represent clients at OHIM.

For European trade mark registration our current costs are £720 plus vat for an unopposed application and the online fee of €900 (euros) for up to 3 classes of goods and services. We currently charge £200 plus vat per hour for appealing unsuccessful applications. If this involves litigation we would need to hire an advocate for the country in question.

Trade Mark Protection Outside EU Member States

To apply for an International Trade Mark (e’g to cover Russian states) you must already have a base application or registration in the UK. If you have made an application for a CTM at OHIM, or have a registered CTM, you can use that as a basis for an international mark. However, you must then make the application for that mark through OHIM. The forms and fees are on OHIM’s website. The cost is in swiss francs and to give you an idea of the costs you can go to;

Our current costs for registering an International Trade Mark are £720 plus vat per country and the fees as per the schedule.

The above costs are subject to our client care letter and full terms and conditions of business.