Trade Marks Act - Changes to make application process simpler

Hot on the heels of the Companies Act 2006 implementation, which aims to make life easier for small businesses, amendments to the Trade Marks Act 1994 also came into play.

Trade Mark Application Changes

From 1st October 2007, the Trade Mark application process has been made simpler for new applicants.

Following the changes to Section 5 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, trade mark examiners will no longer automatically refuse applications where there is an earlier similar trade mark. Instead it will be for the holder of the earlier mark to seek to block the application if they so wish.

According to the UK IP Office, this is intended to ensure that applications will only be blocked where they affect others’ trading interests.

What is a Trade Mark?

A trade mark is a symbol or sign which differentiates one type of business from another. A sign can include a business logo, words/content or anything similar. If you want to register a trademark, it must be sufficiently unique for the product or service to be covered.

A trade mark must also not be:

• deceptive, against the law, or against accepted morality
• descriptive of a characteristic of the goods or services.

We have a number of TM articles on Bytestart, including Trade Marks & Domain Names, the Benefits of Trade Marks, and our Trade Mark Overview. Also try our concise guide to Intellectual Property.

You can read more about Trade Marks and how to apply on the UK Intellectual Property Office here.