Winners of the Nominet Internet Awards 2013

 Trade Mark Direct were runners up in the Nominet awards category for Innovative Business. For a full list of those highlighted by the judges click here

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Maintaining UK TM rights derived from EU registrations

  So as explained in an earlier post, when the UK left the EU cloned new trademarks were created at the UKIPO for owners of registered, active EU trademarks. These new trademarks have the same registration date as the EU trademark and are identical in every respect, other than the tacit assumption they were created under UK trademark law. As with any trademark, the new UK trademarks need to be maintained. Renewal of UK trademarks is required every 10 years from date of regsitration, starting from 6 months before the renewal date. If you miss the renewal date there is a 6 month grace period. Renewal in this period is essentially the same with no loss of rights though there is a penalty fee to pay. £1 for ‘late renewal’. The official fees payable to the UKIPO for renwewing a UK trademark are £200 for the first class of goods or services, and £50 for each extra class. Renewals for non UK resident owners requires a UK representative. If you would like cost effective trademark represent...
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Word Marks? Logo Marks? What’s The Difference?

  So a trademark is your brand, which can be in a form of a word, picture, symbol, or a combination of these. Interestingly enough, 3D objects and sounds can also be registered aside from word trademarks and logo marks. What it does, is to seperate your brand from other goods and services that your competitors may offer. You should consider owning a trademark because it protects you and your consumers from counterfeit and fraud. Also, legal action for a trademark infringement is relatively cheap, sometimes as little as a few thousand pounds, compared to the hundreds of thousands of pounds you have to pay for an action claim of passing off in UK, same goes in the US. Trademarks allow the Trading Standards Officer or the police to criminally charge against counterfeit who use your trademark without your consent. It’s a good way to protect your hard earned good name, don’t you think? But what exactly will you register? A  word mark  registers the word itself you want to use,...
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UK government launches consultation on exhaustion of IP rights and parallel trade

  The UKIPO has taken Brexit in its stride, cloning several million EU trademark rights into UK rights. But more remains to be done. Since 1st January 2021 , the UK has been unilaterally participating in the EEA’s regional exhaustion regime. So  IP rights in goods first placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA) are considered exhausted in the UK. Allowing the goods to be imported into the UK without the right holders permission. Though the reverse does not apply due to the EES’s exhaustion regime. There are a number of possible models, each offering advantages and disadvantages. But UK trademark rights, whether through a direct filing or inherited from EU rights, will continue to underpin the chosen system.
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