U.K. trademark

　　What is a trademark?

　　A trademark is any sign which can distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another. A sign includes, for example, words, logos, pictures, or a combination of these.

　　Basically, a trade mark is a badge of origin, used so that customers can recognise the product of a particular trader.

　　To be registrable your trade mark must be:

　　distinctive for the goods or services which you are applying to register it for,

　　and

　　not deceptive, or contrary to law or morality,

　　and

　　not similar or identical to any earlier marks for the same or similar goods or services.

　　How to Apply for a Trade Mark

　　1.Search and Advisory

　　Once you have applied for a trademark, you cannot alter it and your application fee cannot be refunded. Using Search and Advisory Service could save you the expense of making an application which has little or no chance of being accepted for registration.

　　The UK Patent Office offers a high-quality, value-for-money service to meet the needs of you. It can provide advice on whether your mark meets the requirements for registration.

　　Please make sure you give us:

　　full details of your mark and the goods or services you are interested in;

　　your full postal address and daytime phone number.

　　2. What is needed?

　　1). Instruction Letter

　　2) Name ,address and Nationality(or coutry of incorporation) of the applicant

　　3). Provide an illustration of your trade mark, which may be a word, logo, picture or a combination of these, in the box.

　　4) If you are claiming priority from an earlier application made in a country which has signed the Paris Convention (for the Protection of Industrial Property) for any of the goods or services in your application, give details in this section. You can only make a priority claim within six months of the first application.

　　5). List all the goods or services you trade in, or intend to trade in, using the mark you are applying for.

　　6). Your reference. You don’t have to provide one, but if you do we will use it whenever we contact you.

　　3. applying process

　　1)Filling form

　　You need to fill in a Form - Application to register a trade mark

　　2)Returning form

　　Returning the form to The UK Patent Office.

　　3) Receipt for confirming

　　The UK Patent Office will send you a receipt for your application confirming:

　　all the details you have given, and

　　the date when the UK Patent Office received it - this will be your filing date.

　　4) Examination

　　If you have paid the correct fee, the UK Patent Office will examine your application within two months of receipt, and either:

　　confirm that your application is acceptable, or

　　send you a written Examination Report which will list all the objections against it.

　　5) Advertising new trade marks

　　Once the UK Patent Office has accepted your trademark they will publish it in weekly Trade Marks Journal and write to tell you the publication date of that Journal. After your mark is published, there is a three-month period in which anybody may make observations on its acceptance or oppose its registration. If nobody objects to it, your mark will become registered.

　　6) Registration

　　Registration is the formal recording of a trademark in the United Kingdom Register of Trade Marks. This takes place 15 weeks after a mark has been first advertised in the Trade Marks Journal, providing there are no outstanding observations or opposition proceedings against the mark. On registration, "an applicant" becomes "a proprietor" of a trade mark.

　　Notice of registration is also advertised in the Trade Marks Journal two weeks later and a Certificate of Registration is issued to the proprietor . The date when the mark was applied for (the filing date) is then deemed to be the date of registration.

　　Certificates should be kept safe, as The UK Patent Office cannot issue replacements or duplicates.

　　***The approximate time for obtaining the certificate, without Official objection or Opposition, is about9months.