A UK trademark registration protects a brand name, logo, or slogan in specific classes of goods and services. You apply through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), pay £170 for one class plus £50 for each additional class, and the process takes 4-6 months for a straightforward application. A registered trademark gives you exclusive rights to use the mark and to stop others using anything confusingly similar.

Most UK businesses delay trademark registration until they have a problem. By then someone else has often beaten them to it. The cost of registering early is small. The cost of registering late or losing a brand to an earlier registration is large.

What a trademark protects

A trademark protects:

Brand name (the word mark).
Logo (graphic mark or stylised text).
Slogan or tagline.
Sound, shape, colour, or movement in some cases.

What it does not protect:

The actual product (that's a patent).
The text content of marketing material (that's copyright).
General business ideas, concepts, methods.

UK trademark rights come in two flavours:

Unregistered (common law) rights. Built up through actual use of the mark in commerce. Real and enforceable, but harder to prove and limited to the geographic area where you've actually traded.

Registered rights. Conferred by IPO registration. Easier to enforce, protect across the whole UK, and last 10 years renewable indefinitely.

For most growing brands, register. Unregistered rights are a fallback when you can't register or didn't bother.

The class system

Trademarks are registered in specific classes of goods and services. There are 45 international classes (Nice Classification):

Classes 1-34: goods (e.g. class 25 is clothing, class 9 is software).
Classes 35-45: services (e.g. class 35 is advertising and business services, class 41 is education and entertainment).

You must specify which classes you want protection in. A trademark registered in class 25 (clothing) gives you no protection against someone using the same name in class 41 (education).

For most UK businesses, you'll need 2-4 classes covering:

The actual products or services you sell.
Adjacent products or services you might expand into.
Services that relate to your sales channel (e.g. retail services for sale of [your products]).

Adding extra speculative classes costs £50 each. Worth it for protecting future expansion.

The application process

Search before applying. Use the IPO trademark search to check for existing identical or similar marks in your target classes. Free, takes 15 minutes.
Apply online. Through the IPO website. Fee £170 for one class, £50 per additional class.
IPO examination (typically 2-4 weeks). The examiner checks for absolute grounds (e.g. the mark is descriptive, generic, or offensive). If issues are raised, you have time to respond.
Publication in the Trade Marks Journal (2 months). During this window, third parties can oppose your application.
Registration if no opposition or after resolving any. Total typical timeline 4-6 months.

For straightforward applications with no objections or oppositions, the timeline is predictable. For contested applications, it can run 12-24 months.

Common rejection reasons

The IPO commonly refuses applications on:

Descriptive marks: "Fast Coffee" for a coffee shop. The mark just describes what you sell.
Generic terms: trademarking "Bread" for a bakery.
Geographical indications: "Yorkshire" for Yorkshire-made products (sometimes registrable, sometimes not).
Deceptive marks: implying qualities or origins that don't exist.
Confusing similarity to existing marks: too close to an already-registered mark in the same or related classes.

Some rejections can be argued. Others mean you need to pick a different name. The IPO publishes guidance on what's likely to be accepted.

What registration actually gives you

A registered UK trademark gives you:

The legal right to use the mark exclusively in the registered classes.
The right to use the ® symbol after the mark.
A presumption of validity in any dispute.
The right to take legal action against infringers (suing for damages, injunctions to stop use, account of profits).
The ability to license or sell the mark.
A strong basis for refusing similar trademark applications by others.

Without registration:

You can still use the mark.
You can still sue under "passing off" (common law). But you have to prove your reputation in the mark, which is expensive and uncertain.

Cost over time

Initial application: £170 first class + £50 per additional class.
Class additions or changes (after acceptance): not possible. New application needed.
Renewal every 10 years: £200 first class + £50 per additional class.
Trademark watch service (optional): £100-£500 per year. Monitors new applications that might conflict.
Defending opposition (if it happens): £500-£5,000 in legal fees for a typical SME case.

Lifetime cost of maintaining a 2-class trademark: about £450 every 10 years. Cheap insurance for a brand worth anything.

When you should register

Before launch if you're investing significantly in branding.
As soon as the brand has revenue that's worth protecting.
Before entering a new market where you'll be visible.
Before any major investment in marketing where the brand will be heavily exposed.

When you might not need to register

Pre-launch hobby projects with uncertain commitment.
Names you're likely to change.
Generic names that wouldn't be registrable anyway.
Highly local businesses where the geographic reach is genuinely limited.

International expansion

A UK trademark protects you in the UK only. For international protection:

Apply directly in each country where you trade.
Use the Madrid Protocol (WIPO) to apply in multiple countries with one application. UK-based businesses can use Madrid Protocol since 2008.
EU trademark (EUTM) for protection across all 27 EU member states. Useful if you sell into the EU.

Strategy: get the UK first, then plan international as the business expands.

What to do this quarter

If you have a brand worth protecting and haven't registered:

Run an IPO search on your brand name in the classes you trade in.
If clear, file the application. £170-£270 for most small businesses covers 2-3 classes.
Set a renewal calendar reminder for 10 years out.

If you're about to launch:

Search trademark availability before settling on the name (along with Companies House and domain checks).
File the application close to launch so the protection is in place before the brand attracts attention.

UK trademark registration: how it works and what it costs