A trademark protects brands but having one does not protect ideas (neither does copyright, for that matter; copyright protects the creative output, but not the ideas themselves).
Once a trademark is registered, third parties cannot use your trademark or a similar mark on identical or similar services that your trademark is registered for.
Goods and services
In order to file a trademark application, you will need to indicate the goods and/or services for which you use or will be using your trademark in the future. These goods and services are divided into so-called Classes (the first 34 Classes cover goods and Classes 35-45 cover services). Please kindly note that you need to be quite specific about the goods/services. For example, “TV” would not be accepted by the examiner and you would need to identify exactly what goods/services you wish to use your trademark for.
For example:
- Class 9 – CDs, DVDs, mobile phone apps; software; downloadable electronic publications and video files;
- Class 16 – printed paper matter including books, magazines, manuals;
- Class 35 – advertising, marketing and promotional services;
- Class 38 – telecommunications services; radio and television broadcasting services; online forums; chatroom services;
- Class 41 – educational and training services; organisation of cultural activities; publishing services; non-downloadable electronic publications; television production services; life coaching (training);
- Class 42 – creating, hosting and maintaining of websites; hosting of digital content, namely, online journals and blogs;
- Class 44 – therapy services.
Costs – per mark/application
The costs for filing a trademark application are dependent on the number of classes you choose. The below estimates are based on one Class. If wanting to select more than one Class, please see our online calculator for fees: https://www.trademarkdirect.co.uk/our-services.
UK (check for up to date costs)
For example, the estimated cost for registering a wordmark in one Class as a UK trademark, so giving you rights to stop others in the UK, would be (per mark/application)
Our advice fees for UK trademark (1 class) as of 2016 is £249.00
UK Registry fee (1 class) £170.00
Subtotal £419.00
VAT £49.80
Total £468.80
For each additional Class, our fees are £50 + £10 VAT per additional Class and the official fees are £50 per additional Class. For a logo mark, please add a one-off logo fee of £75 + £15 VAT, so that a UK logo application in one Class would cost £558.80.
So, if you are wanting to obtain registered trademark protection for both the wordmark/name and separately the logo, then the costs are £468.80 for the word mark + £558.80 for the logo mark.
EU (Community Trade Mark)
Alternatively, you could file an EU wide (wordmark) community application, giving you rights in all 28 member countries of the EU including the UK, and the cost would be (for one Class; per mark/application)
Our advice fees for CTM trademark (1 class) as of 2016 is £399.00
CTM Application fee (1 class) £840.00
Subtotal £1,239.00
VAT £79.80
Total £1,318.80
For each additional Class, our fees are £50 + £10 VAT per additional Class and the official fees (over three Classes as the first three are included) are £140 per additional Class. For a logo mark, please add a one-off logo fee of £75 plus £15 VAT, so that an EU logo application for one Class would cost £1,408.80.
So, if wanting to obtain registered trademark protection for both the wordmark/name and separately the logo, then the costs are £1,318.80 for the word mark + £1,408.80 for the logo mark.
Please see our online calculator for more information: https://www.trademarkdirect.co.uk/our-services
The above cost estimates are exclusive of dealing with objections or oppositions. Please see our terms and conditions for more information.
Trade Mark Direct – How we are different
Before filing a trademark application, we will do clearance searches and legal checks to establish the availability of a trademark. Once these searches and checks have been done, we will inform you of the results.
We’re unique amongst trademark firms in that we do not charge any fees for UK and EU trademark applications unless we establish the name has a good chance of being registered. So, if after the searches and legal checks it looks as if an application may not work, you are free to walk away and you don’t pay us anything. (At the time of placing your order, we will ask for payment details for payment authorisation, but we do not take payment yet.) Only if we feel that you have a strong trademark, will we file the application and the fees become payable (so fees are payable when we establish that your proposed trademark has a good chance of success).
We are also the only firm of any size/stature to offer a Money back guarantee on ‘Our fees’ if we think it has a good chance of succeeding. Please see our terms and conditions for further information.
How to proceed
You can place a UK or EU trademark order with us via our easy to use the online system. We will then first do the clearance searches and legal checks before filing the application.
You can also use our online free search tool to get preliminary advice as to whether your proposed trademark is potentially available or not as the UK or CTM mark – please go to our home page www.trademarkdirect.co.uk.
We file more UK trademarks than any other firm and see hundreds of orders a month. So, we have a good understanding of what the government examiners will accept and the chances of oppositions from other trademark owners.
Clients rate our service highly. Through the independent rating site Trust Pilot, we score 9 out of 10. We are the only UK trademark firm with trademark attorneys with independently verified client reviews.
We hope the above information is helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Client Services
Trade Mark Direct
Clients rate our service 9 out of 10 on Trustpilot
info@trademarkdirect.co.uk
UK service
www.trademarkdirect.co.uk
US service
www.trademarkdirect.com
Winner of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award at the UK IT Industry Awards, 2012
Runner-up in the Nominet award for Innovative Internet Business, 2013
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