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Why Register Your Trademark

Your trademark can define your whole brand or specific unique products and so it is vital that you protect it from being used by someone else. Registering a trademark means that your names and brands are “locked in” by you and you have exclusive use of it. A trademark is valuable and becomes more valuable as your profile rises. Act now to protect it!

Catkins Business Services can carry out a free trademark search and advise you if your trademark is likely to succeed. We can then register your trademark on your behalf and deal with any of the communication coming from the Intellectual Property Office. This can be time-consuming and we can handle that for you.

Once registered you get to use the ® symbol to show it’s yours and so others refrain from using it.

Trademark Guidelines

Your trade mark must be unique. It can include:

• words
• sounds
• logos
• colours
• a combination of any of these

Your trade mark can’t:

• be offensive, eg contain swear words or pornographic images
• describe the goods or services it will relate to, eg the word ‘cotton’ can’t be a trade mark for a cotton textile company
• be misleading, eg use the word ‘organic’ for goods that aren’t organic
• be a 3-dimensional shape associated with your trade mark, eg use the shape of an egg for eggs
• be too common and non-distinctive, eg be a simple statement like ‘we lead the way’
• be already registered as an identical or similar trade mark for the same or similar goods or services

Costs

Registering your trademark through Catkins Business Services costs £215.00 + £50.00 for each additional class.  We will not invoice you until we have completed the initial trademark search to see if your application is likely to be successful. If your application is unsuccessful the fees can not be refunded.

Start your application now, the registration process takes about 4 months if no-one objects. Registered trade marks last 10 years.

Trademark Registration Process

• You send us your name / logo / slogan / strapline to be registered
• We complete the search of existing trademarks and advise you of the outcome
• We invoice you and complete the trademark application and submit it
• We inform you of any objections or queries forthcoming from the Registrar
• We keep you informed of how far through the process the registration is
• We inform you when the process is complete and forward you all relevant documents

After the trademark application is submitted it is then examined to ensure that it meets the demands of the Trade Marks Act, and then a search is undertaken to identify earlier similar trade marks. The Registrar then produces a report identifying any deficiencies in the application and allowing one attempt to overcome earlier marks. The Registrar then advertises the application for two months to allow for opposition by third parties. The Examiner will notify the owners of the trademark registration application of earlier UK and (some) Community rights that have been maintained as objections against the application of the advertisement. If there aren’t any objections after the trademark application is advertised, it will be registered for 10 years from the date of registration.