From October this year, businesses will be able to register trade marks more cheaply and easily thanks to a number of new proposals announced today by the Intellectual Property Office.
In publishing its response to the ‘Helping businesses register trade marks and patents’ consultation paper, the Intellectual Property Office will implement of a number of services aimed at strengthening business competitiveness throughout the UK.
David Lammy, Minister of State for Intellectual Property, said:
"We are committed to supporting businesses in these difficult economic times, and our Right Start and E-filing initiatives make it easier and cheaper for trade mark owners, and in particular small businesses, to register and protect their brands.
"Registering a trade mark is an important step for a business to take. By protecting their intellectual property they are protecting their innovative ideas of the future.
Failing to do this risks them losing their investment in developing successful brands for their products and services."
Proposals to be introduced include:
- A ‘Right Start’ service for trade marks. A business using the new 'Right Start' service will be able to defer payment of half the usual £200 trade mark application fee until after it has seen the Intellectual Property Office's assessment of whether the mark can be registered. If there any problems, the business will have an opportunity to informally discuss them with the trade mark examiner before deciding whether to proceed with the application and pay the balance of the fees.
- An E-filing initiative. This will offer a £30 reduction in application fees for e-filed trade marks where the full discounted fee is paid at the time of filing and a £10 reduction in the application fee for e-filed patent applications. It also offers reduced fees for e-filed patent search and examination requests.
Source: Intellectual Property Office
www.ukba.co.uk
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