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A UK trade mark is granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), and it gives you the exclusive right to use your name, logo or slogan for the goods and services you register it for, anywhere in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The application itself is a short online form. What decides whether it succeeds, and whether the registration is worth anything once you have it, is the work done before you press submit: checking the register, choosing the right classes and writing a specification that covers what you actually sell.
That preparation is what we help with from our London office. This page sets out how the UK system works, what it costs in official fees since the April 2026 increase, and where applications usually go wrong. It is general information, not legal advice — Zenesa Tech is not a law firm, and if your application is opposed or you receive a letter about someone else's mark, you should speak to a registered trade mark attorney or solicitor.
A trade mark has to be able to distinguish your goods or services from everyone else's. Words, logos, slogans, colours, shapes and even sounds can qualify. The UKIPO examiner will refuse a mark on what are called absolute grounds if it is:
This is why invented and unusual names are the easiest to register and the most valuable to own, and why a name that describes your service well is often the hardest to protect. If you are still choosing a name or a logo, test it against these rules first (and if it is the logo you want to protect, our guide to how to trademark a logo explains the word-mark-versus-logo-mark choice, which works the same way here). Our logo design service works with that in mind, and our guide to what logo design costs covers the ownership questions to settle before you file.
The UKIPO does search for earlier marks during examination, but it will not refuse your application because of one. Instead the examination report lists any similar earlier marks it finds; if you go ahead, the owners of earlier UK marks are notified and can oppose. So a clash you could have found in ten minutes becomes an opposition you have to defend months later, or an application fee lost.
Search before you file. The UKIPO's free trade mark search on GOV.UK covers UK registrations and pending applications, including the comparable UK marks created from EU registrations on 1 January 2021. Search for exact matches, close spellings and words that sound the same, and look at the classes as well as the names — an identical name in an unrelated trade is usually not a problem, while a similar name in the same trade usually is. Our step-by-step guide to how to do a trademark search is written around the US register, but the method carries straight across.
Every application lists the goods and services it covers, grouped into the 45 classes of the international Nice Classification. Software is in class 9, clothing in class 25, advertising and retail services in class 35, and design and IT services in class 42, for example. You pay per class, and the wording inside each class — the specification — sets the edges of your protection.
Two mistakes are common. The first is a specification so narrow that it does not cover the business you are about to grow into. The second is the opposite: claiming everything in a class “just in case”. A UK registration that has not been put to genuine use for five years after it is registered can be revoked for non-use, and a broad, unused specification invites challenges. Claim what you sell now and what you have a real plan to sell.
The UKIPO raised its trade mark fees on 1 April 2026, the first increase for trade marks since 1998. Fees are set by the date you pay, not the date the application is processed. Some guides online still quote the old figures.
| Official fee | Before April 2026 | From 1 April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Online application, first class | £170 | £205 |
| Each additional class | £50 | £60 |
| Renewal every 10 years, first class | £200 | £245 |
A single-class application therefore costs £205, and a three-class application £325, in official fees alone. The UKIPO also offers a “Right Start” route, where you pay part of the fee, receive the examination report, and then decide within 28 days whether to pay the balance and continue. It costs slightly more in total, but lets you stop early if the report shows a serious problem. Check the current figures on GOV.UK before you pay. If you are filing in the United States as well, our guide to what a US trademark costs covers the USPTO's fees.
GOV.UK puts the unopposed timeline at around three to four months from application, which is considerably faster than the USPTO. Our guide to the US trademark registration timeline sets out the American process stage by stage if you are comparing the two.
Since 1 January 2021 an EU trade mark no longer covers the United Kingdom. EU marks that were already registered on that date were automatically given an equivalent “comparable” UK mark, but anything applied for since then needs its own UKIPO filing. A business selling in both markets files twice, once with the EUIPO and once with the UKIPO. For wider coverage, an international application through WIPO's Madrid System can designate several countries from one base application. Our main trademark registration services page covers filings with the USPTO, EUIPO and WIPO as well as the UKIPO, and if you also trade in Pakistan, our guide to trademark registration in Pakistan explains how IPO-Pakistan's one-class-per-application system differs.
You can use ™ on any mark you treat as your trade mark, registered or not. The ® symbol is different: in the UK it is a criminal offence under section 95 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 to represent a mark as registered when it is not. Wait for the registration certificate before you change your packaging, website and stationery.
If an examiner's objection needs legal argument, or someone opposes your mark, we will say so plainly and point you to a registered trade mark attorney rather than guess. Filing support is quoted per application, because the work depends on the number of classes and what the search turns up.
Since 1 April 2026 the UKIPO's official fee for an online application is £205 for one class of goods or services and £60 for each additional class, so a three-class application costs £325 in official fees. Renewal every ten years is £245 for one class. Any help you pay for with searching and drafting is on top of the official fee.
GOV.UK says it usually takes around three to four months from application if there are no issues. Most of that is the two-month opposition period after the application is published in the Trade Marks Journal, which can be extended to three months by someone considering an opposition. An opposed application takes much longer.
Not for anything filed after Brexit. EU trade marks that were already registered on 1 January 2021 were given an equivalent comparable UK trade mark, but a new EU application does not cover the UK. To be protected in both, you file with the EUIPO and the UKIPO separately.
No. In the UK it is a criminal offence under section 95 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 to represent a mark as registered when it is not. You can use ™ at any time, including while your application is pending, and switch to ® once the registration certificate is issued.
No. You can apply for a UK trade mark you intend to use. But a registration that has not been genuinely used for five years after it is registered can be challenged and revoked for non-use, so only claim goods and services you actually plan to trade in.
Our London office also designs and builds websites for UK businesses — see web design in London. To start a trade mark search or filing, send us the details: the name or logo, what you sell, and where you sell it. You can also email info@zenesatech.com or call +1 (469) 737-9498.
London office: 92 Great Portland St, London W1W 5PN, United Kingdom.
Copyright © 2026 Zenesa Tech.
All Rights Reserved.