The UK region
As of January 2021, United Kingdom no longer protects new EU-registered trademarks by default, which means that applicants have to go through a separate registration process with UK office.
UK trademark definition
UK Intellectual Property Office has specific requirements and restrictions for trademarks. Your trademark must be unique. It can include words, sounds, logos, colours, a combination of any of these.
Your trademark cannot: be offensive, for example, contain swear words or pornographic images; describe the goods or services it will relate to, for example, the word ‘cotton’ cannot be a trademark for a cotton textile company; be misleading, for example, use the word ‘organic’ for goods that are not organic; be a 3-dimensional shape associated with your trademark, for example, use the shape of an egg for eggs; be too common and non-distinctive, for example, be a simple statement like ‘we lead the way’; look too similar to state symbols like flags or hallmarks. In the UK, it is also not possible to register a domain as a trademark.
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office fees
The lowest fee for the application for UK trademark – £170
Fee for each additional class of goods and services – £50
Registration process duration and registration validity
The UK trademark registration process takes from 4 to 5 months if no one objects during publication. A UK trademark registration lasts for 10 years but can be renewed indefinitely.
