How do you make sure you’re paying to get your mark on the right register?

The short answer is to give Appleyard Lees a call and we’ll guide you through the process but knowing the following may help you.

There are only 3 organisations who hold official trade mark registers covering the UK.  They are:

• UK Intellectual Property Office - for UK specific registrations;
• OHIM (Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market) - for EU wide registrations; and
• WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) - for international registrations designating the UK or EU.

When Appleyard Lees file trade mark applications for you we liaise with these organisations on your behalf.  That means any genuine official correspondence or requests for fees you receive should be accompanied by a letter from us. 

The registration process involves details of the trade mark, including the address of the applicant, being placed on the public register.  Unfortunately a number of companies use that information to send letters requesting payment of registration fees.  Rather than relating to fees for an official register these letters are actually requesting fees for you to add your mark to unofficial registers.  There is of course no obligation for you to pay the fees.  

You can find more details on the UK IPO website.

Recently these letters have become more sophisticated and we have for example seen prominent use of marks which resemble OHIM!  We would urge trade mark owners to be vigilant and contact us if in any doubt.