Trademark registration in the UK – government fees

Trademark registration in the UK – government fees

My previous entries discussed the government fees associated with obtaining trademark

registration in Poland and the European Union. Today it's time for the third extremely

important market for Polish entrepreneurs, i.e. Great Britain.

United Kingdom – is it worth it?

Until recently, the United Kingdom was one of the European Union member states.

Registering a trademark at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

automatically solved the problem of protecting our brand on its territory. Unfortunately, this is

a thing of the past. In line with the will of voters expressed in the 2016 referendum, the UK

left the EU and is currently not linked to the common market in any way. Inevitably, marks

submitted and registered at EUIPO are no longer automatically protected in the territory of

this country. Therefore, if we want our brand to be safe, it is necessary to submit a separate

notification.

It is worth noting here that even though the United Kingdom has decided to leave the

European Union, it still remains a very important economic partner of Poland. The export of

Polish goods and services to the UK exceeds PLN 60 billion annually. After Germany, the

Czech Republic and France, the UK is the main recipient of Polish exports. Moreover, in

trade with this country, Poland systematically records a very large surplus, because the value

of our imports is almost three times lower. Among the goods sent from Poland to the UK,

food items occupy a prominent place, which seems to be related, on the one hand, to the fact

that this country is not self-sufficient in food, and, on the other hand, to the large Polish

community.

Estimates vary greatly, but it can be safely assumed that Poles currently constitute at least

1% of the United Kingdom's population, which in absolute numbers translates into almost

700,000 people. Since both countries are located quite close to each other, and

communication between them is easy, fast and cheap, many of our compatriots maintain

constant contact with their homeland and, as a result, know the brands present on the Polish

market.

Money, money, money

British trademark law is similar to Polish and European law. The process of obtaining

protection is therefore quite quick and without excessive formalities. One of its undoubted

advantages is the fact that the official fee is paid only once, at the trademark application

stage. Therefore, there are no separate fees for publication and protection after granting the

protection right in Poland.

As for the fees themselves, they are not excessive. The basic fee, covering a trademark

application in one class, is £170. Each additional class means you have to shell out an extra

£50. These amounts are slightly higher than in Poland, but do not differ dramatically from the

fees charged by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. It is also important to remember

the differences in the sizes of the two markets. After all, approximately 30 million more

people live in the United Kingdom than in Poland.

A risk that doesn`t pay off

Registering a trademark in the UK is, above all, an investment in the safety of our brand. In

this way, we eliminate the risk that our trademark will be copied by unfair competitors who,

for example, noticed the popularity of our goods among Polish consumers and decided to

take advantage of Poles living on the islands.Of course, British law has mechanisms that

allow for the recovery of rights to misappropriated trademarks by their rightful owners.

However, such emergency actions are always much more costly and time-consuming than

registering a trademark.

Therefore, it is better to save yourself unnecessary trouble and unnecessary expenses and

simply register your mark in the United Kingdom early enough. The standard procedure in

this regard usually takes no longer than 4 months. Having a registered mark also opens up a

number of business opportunities for us, such as licensing external partners to use our

brand.