Trademark registration is the best way to ensure that your business is protected against infringement which could include others using your name or brand as their own or, setting up their own business with a similar name which can cause confusion to your customers.

A trademark is a real asset that you or your business owns. It gives you rights of use for specific products and services which allows you to trade without the concern of anyone else using a name or brand which is the same or similar. There are many other benefits and reasons why you should register your trademark which we will cover in this article. One of the first questions you may be asking is, How much does it cost to trademark a business name in the UK?

How much does it cost to trademark a business name in the UK?

The cost to register a UK trademark can vary depending on many factors. Here are a few factors that can affect the cost of your trademark registration.

• Your trademark objective. If you're registering a brand with multiple products you may require a number of trademark classes. Each class adds an additional cost.

• The number of marks you require. For example you may have a name and a logo that you want to protect. Many businesses will have a combination depending on what they need to protect.

• Whether you require the assistance of an attorney. Depending on the complexity of your business and brand trademark objectives you may require the assistance of an attorney.

• Objections. If you've filed your application and face objections to your registration from another trademark holder you may need legal assistance which can add costs to the process.

• Filing options. You may choose to use a trademark representative to manage the filing of your trademark. This is often the best way to help avoid incorrectly filing your mark or discovering that your trademark does not meet the criteria. A filing service will add a cost but greatly reduce the risk. If you file your own application and it gets declined you will not be refunded by the IPO.

As we can see, there are many factors that affect the cost. But below are the standard IPO costs of registering if you were registering your own trademark with no assistance. Please keep in mind that if you do file your own trademark and make a mistake leading to your application being declined, you will not get a refund.

UKIPO trademark registration fees

UKIPO trademark registration fees (No refunds if your application fails)

• Application Fee: £170 for online applications

• £200 for paper applications

• Additional Classes (If you wish to protect your brand in additional classes): £50

In comparison if you were to use a filing service such as UKTMS the fees are slightly more but you can receive a refund on part of all of the fees if the application is declined by the IPO for acceptance.

UKTMS fees to register your trademark online

(U.K. Trademark Services)

UKTMS offer a fully managed filing service that offer a refund if the application is declined by the IPO:

• Application Fee: £465 (Includes one class)
• Additional Classes: £65

• Price includes application IPO acceptance guarantee

You can see their current trademark registration fees on the UK Trademark Services website.

Is your business name suitable for trademark registration?

Before applying to register a trademark it's important to check that your name or brand can be meets the criteria for registration. A trademark must be unique and non descriptive to your business, service or products. If you're using a trademark filing service they will review your trademark and run numerous checks to help ensure that your mark is suitable for registration. But, before anything, when you're considering your name or brand you should check that there are no obvious conflicts with other companies.

You should make every possible effort to ensure that there is not an existing business with the same or similar name / brand trading with a similar product or service. Trying to register a conflicting trademark is of no benefit to anyone since, even if you do officially register your trademark but another business can prove they were using the name/brand first, they have rights and will be able to continue trading and potentially have your registration revoked. So, make every effort to ensure that your trademark really is unique and does not conflict with other businesses. Once you have a truly unique brand registered this will help prevent others using your brand or a similar one.

What are the benefits of registering a trademark?

There are many benefits to registering your trademark which makes the cost worthwhile. Aside from protecting your business, as mentioned, a trademark is a true asset for your business. This creates value in your business should you ever want to sell your business / brand since a there is a much higher value on something that can be protected.

In addition, a trademark opens up more business opportunities such as franchising or licensing your brand in the future.

It's also peace of mind because should you ever find someone using your name or brand or something similar you can simply reach out to inform the company that you feel that they are in breach of your trademark. In many cases this is enough to stop someone from using the brand in question. But, if not the legal process is much simpler with a registered trademark.

Another benefit is that with more and more online marketplaces a trademark can play a part in easily verifying you as the brand owner. For example Amazon have their Amazon Brand Registry which enables brand owners to control their brand on the platform. In order to make use of this, you must have a registered trademark in an accepted territory. A UK registration is a popular choice for this since it's a simpler and faster process that other territories.