Trademark Registration to Protect your Company
A trademark is a 100% exclusive right over a particular name or logo (or a combination of the both).
Without a trademark registration you cannot prevent others from using the term (or a similar term) and indeed, a third party may acquire a trade mark registration for that term and prevent you from using it.
Licensing of Trademarks
A trademark is one of the most important assets of a company. It is not only used to protect the reputation and goodwill of the company but a company can look into licensing of trademarks and even sold to third parties.
Without a trade mark you cannot trade in the knowledge that you own your name and that you will not be prevented from using it. You can also not stop others using the name and free riding off of your reputation and goodwill that you have worked so hard to establish.
Why Register EU and UK Trademarks?
Trademarks can be a valuable business commodity. They can benefit your business by:
- Indication the origin of your goods or services.
- Indicating the quality of the product.
- Being a useful exploitable piece of property that can be sold, licensed or transferred.
The benefit of obtaining a registered trade as opposed to unregistered rights is that:
- The period of protection is potentially unlimited as although a trademark last for 10 years it can be indefinitely renewed. For example the Bass red triangle trade mark for beer has been in use for more than 130 years and still retains its validity.
- It conveys on the owner an exclusive right to use the mark in trade for purposes permitted by the registration.
- A registered trade mark may dissuade others from using your mark.
- It gives the right to take legal action against anyone who uses your trade mark without your permission.
How do I apply for UK trademark registration?
If your completed UK trademarks search is positive, the next step is to proceed to a trademark application.
The Trademarkroom will process your application on your behalf. You will have provided us with all the necessary information to enable us to carry this out:
- Exact details of your proposed mark (including a logo if you have one)
- The name and address of who the owner of the mark will be (i.e. an individual or company).
- Full details of your product or service so we can make sure it is in the correct trademark classification.
The whole UK trademarks registration process takes approximately 4 - 5 months to complete if there are no complications.
The first step is to wait for the examination report. This will mirror the trademark search and essentially tell us if the application will be accepted.
If the application is accepted then the mark will be published on the UK Trade Mark Journal for a period of 2 months. This is known as the opposition period in which any third parties who object to your application have the opportunity to file a formal opposition against it. If an opposition is raised you will have to decide if you withdraw the application or fight the opposition.
Fees
Our fee to conduct a full UK trademarks search including letter of advice, search report and guide to UK trade mark applications will be £50.00 +VAT.
Our fee to file an application will be £300.00 +VAT. The government fee will be £200.00 (No VAT) for 1 class and an addition £50.00 for each class above 1.
How do I apply for EU trademarks?
As with a UK trademarks application above, if your EU trademarks search and advice report is positive we can complete an EU trademark application on your behalf.
An EU trademarks application protects you in all 27 member states. The process takes approximately 16 months to full registration.
Once the application has been made you have one month to pay the OHIM filing fee of 750 Euro for up to three classifications. If no problems arise during the examination or once any objections are successfully dealt with, the EU trademark is published after the Office has received the translations into all official languages of the EU (hence the reason why an EU trademarks application takes considerably longer). There is then a three month period for filing an opposition. If no oppositions are filed during this period, the application proceeds to registration.
Once the trademark registration fee of 850 Euro for up 3 classifications has been paid the certificate will be sent to the Trademarkroom (this can take up to 8 weeks). We will of course forward this EU Trademarks certificate on to you.