A trademark is a sign or text capable of being represented graphically, and which distinguishes the goods or services of one business from those of another. A trademark may consist of words, designs, logos, or combinations of letters and/or numerals.
When considering the design of a trade mark, it is important to realise that some words or phrases which are entirely descriptive of the goods or services would not be considered suitable for registration as a trade mark.
If no objections are raised, the registration of a trademark will take approximately 5 months to effect. Upon a successful application, your trade mark will be valid for 10 years.
Coddan will ensure that you are kept informed of the status of your trademark application throughout the process.
As the registration of a trademark is a long and involved process, it is prudent to ensure that your trademark is available before you begin the registration process.
We can take care of the trademark registration process from start to finish.
Stage 1 - filing the trademark application. To file a UK trademark application in one class we charge a fixed fee of £350.00. Of this, our legal charges for preparing and filing the application are just £150.00. The official filing fee is £200.00.
For each additional class we charge a fixed fee of £100.00. Of this, our legal charges are £50.00 and the official fee is £50.00. It is possible to file a fast-track application which will be examined within 10 business days after filing for an additional £300.00 cost.
Stage 2 - the prosecution. After filing your application, we charge on a time and materials basis for the work we undertake through to the registration of the mark. Our charges will depend upon how straightforward the application is and whether it receives any objections. This is not something we can predict with absolute certainty, although we do aim to warn you if your application is likely to be problematic. There are a wide variety of objections that can be raised by an examiner including that your trademark is descriptive and not distinctive e.g. the trademark SHOES for a 'shoe store'.
In the event of an objection, we would need to respond to the examiner. Responding to objections may include presenting evidence of use, engaging in correspondence and/or attending a hearing with the examiner. A third party may oppose your trademark application on a number of grounds including that it is identical or similar to their trademark and that there exists a likelihood of confusion between your proposed trademark and their registered trademark.
In the event of an opposition, we will advise you of your additional legal charges and expenses before proceeding on your behalf. Note that most but not all trademark applications are straightforward and go through without significant objection or opposition.
The total costs of filing an application to register a trademark or/and logo: you are looking at an estimated total cost of £600.00 if the application proves straightforward & is registered in one class only.
About the trademark registration process
When you register a trademark in the UK the process is completed through the UK Patent Office, giving the registrant far wider protection and making any infringement much easier to deal with.
There are two stages involved in the process - a formal trademark search and the full trademark application. The formal search will investigate further to ascertain if there are any existing identical or similar trademarks registered in the same or similar Class of goods/services or whether there is any reason why the trademark might be unacceptable under the terms of the Trademarks Act 1994 Section 3.
The application stage generally takes around six months to complete. Once a trademark application has been accepted by the Patent Office, it will be advertised in the Trademarks Journal, which is published every Friday on the Patent Office web site.
The Journal advertisement will last for a period of three months, which allows any interested parties with justifiable cause to oppose the registration of a trademark.
Opposition is the legal procedure, which allows anyone to try to stop the registration of a trademark. They may only do this by filing the appropriate documents with the Patent Office.
The government fee for the trademark registration is included in the price of this option.
The registration process includes the following: -
Trademark search conducted with the Patent Office, which takes approximately two to three weeks.
Application to register a trademark with the Patent Office in one class. Additional classes are charged at £100.00 per class (the government fee for an additional class is included in the price of this option).
The application can take approximately 5 months if no objections are raised.
Forwarding of a Trademark Certificate upon registration.
Ten years registration upon successful application.
We will ensure that you are kept informed of the status of your trademark application during the process.
