UK unveils cut-price trademark model

A new pricing model for the UK's Intellectual Property Office has been unveiled to deliver overall savings to innovators and businesses of just over £700,000.



The £200 fee for applying to register a trademark online will fall £30 where the sum is paid at the outset, and the fee for e-filing online patent applications will fall £10.



The discounts, due to take effect from October, are aimed at motivating creators who are confined to being an early-stage business because their funds are too limited to expand.



At the same time, registrants with the IPO will be allowed to defer payment of half the trade mark application fee until after the office decides whether the mark can be registered.



If problems emerge, users of this early assistance service – Right Start - will also be able to talk to the trade mark examiner before deciding whether to proceed with the application and pay the balance.



Companies and their advisers have welcomed the reforms, saying the package will make it easier for creators to protect their trade marks and inventions in the current economic climate.



Ilya Kazi, IP partner at Mathys and Squire, said: "The new service will allow businesses to assess the credibility of the trade mark before paying the full initial application fee, removing the worry of needlessly parting with crucial funds."



In its response to the 'Helping businesses register trade marks and patents' consultation paper, the IPO also said it would introduce discounts for e-filed patent searches and examination requests.



Yet it declined calls to reduce the opposition fee, but said it would increase the cost for 'extension of time' requests, to "put a further incentive on parties to produce their evidence as quickly as possible."



Elsewhere, the consultation respondents, who included the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the British Brands Group and the BBC, voiced concern about the security risk of filing applications online.



Although related actions are not present in the current package of measures, which the IPO estimated to save small firms £700,000, the office said the comments would be "taken on board" to help improve its e-filing facilities in the future.