Do I Have to Register a Trade Mark in the UK?

As a business owner, you may be considering whether registering a trade mark is necessary for your business. Although you may maintain some trade mark rights without registration, registering your trade mark can provide more robust protection. This article will explain whether you have to register a trade mark in the UK. It will also explain the benefits of registering your trade mark and the protections you have without registration.

Do I Have to Register a Trade Mark?

You are under no legal obligation to register a trade mark for your business, but it may be worthwhile. Your business logo, symbol or slogan forms your brand identity, which will hopefully remain a constant identifier of your brand as you grow and develop.

Consequently, your brand is something that you need to protect. While you retain some protection with an unregistered trade mark, registration provides much stronger legal protection and a greater ability to challenge others who attempt to use your trade mark.

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Unregistered Trade Marks

Any symbol or mark you use in your business may potentially form an unregistered trade mark. Trade marks often exist in the form of logos or other symbols, and while they remain unregistered, they do not possess the same protections as they would if registered.

When you have not registered your trade mark, you can enforce your rights against other businesses who are ‘passing off’ your trade mark. In England and Wales, you cannot sell goods or services under the pretence that they are the goods or services of another. Businesses cannot ‘pass off’ their own goods for someone else’s. 

To successfully establish this action, you will need to show your business has built up a brand reputation, or ‘goodwill’, concerning the specific goods and services you trade in. You will also need to demonstrate consequential damage from any misrepresentations by the competitor using your trade mark. These factors can be hard to prove, and generally speaking, it is more difficult to establish a legal claim when you have an unregistered trade mark.

Registered Trade Marks

Registered trade mark owners with the Intellectual Property Office have exclusive rights over the trade mark concerning their goods and services, from the date the application is filed. Once you have registered a trade mark, no other business can use it in relation to the goods and services you claimed on your application without your consent. If they attempt to do so, you can begin legal proceedings immediately. You can easily prove ownership by consulting the trade marks register.

A registered trade mark must meet the following requirements. Some of these requirements are that your trade mark must not be:

• too similar to other registered trade marks;
• offensive; or
• overly descriptive in nature (for example, a computer company is unlikely to succeed in registering “computers” as a trade mark).

If you design a trade mark and find it already on the register in a similar form, you have some options. You may decide to change your branding or design to be unique. However, you can also request permission to use the trade mark from the registered owner to avoid a potential challenge. Older registrations can also be removed from the register if the owner is no longer using the mark.

Registration protects your trade mark within the business goods and service areas you choose in your application. These areas are known as classes, and there are 45 classes of goods and services to choose from. Your trade mark will only have protection concerning your selected classes. A trade mark application typically costs around £170 for a standard application, but can cost more depending on how many classes you wish to select to register your trade mark within.

Unregistered vs Registered Rights

Generally, it is advisable to protect your brand where possible by registering your trade marks. Registered rights are easier and more effective to enforce legally and give you protection across the whole UK, but there are some drawbacks compared to unregistered rights.

On the whole, however, registered rights provide you with more certainty in your brand. It is clear by looking at the register when your registered rights began, what your trade mark is, and what goods and services you provide under the mark. 

Key Takeaways

You do not have to register your trade mark. However, it is advisable if you wish to protect your brand. Unregistered trade marks have limited protections that can be difficult to prove. In contrast, registered trade marks provide greater protection as, upon registration, you acquire rights that are far easier to enforce. 

If you need help deciding whether to register a trade mark, our experienced intellectual property lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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