How Much Does UK Trade Mark Registration Cost in 2026?

Registering a UK trade mark in 2026 costs £205 for one class of goods or services when you apply online, plus £60 for each additional class. Those are the official Intellectual Property Office (IPO) fees that took effect on 1 April 2026, when trade mark fees rose for the first time since 1998. That headline number, though, is only the application fee. The real cost of protecting a brand depends on how many classes you need, whether you use the Right Start service, whether anyone opposes your mark, and what you spend on professional advice and renewals over the life of the registration. This guide breaks down every fee, shows the true end-to-end cost with a worked example, and explains where the money actually goes.

What it costs in 2026

The quickest way to understand UK trade mark pricing is to separate the three things you can pay for: the application, the number of classes, and any optional services such as faster examination. Everything else (renewals, oppositions, recordals) comes later. Here is the at-a-glance picture for the most common routes, using the fees that apply from 1 April 2026.

So a single-class online application is £205. Most real brands, however, need two or three classes, which is where the figure climbs — and where careful scoping pays for itself.

The full IPO fee table (2026)

These are the headline domestic trade mark fees published by the IPO, with the old fee shown for context. The increase averaged around 25% across IPO rights and, for trade marks, was the first rise in over two decades.

Note that fees are paid to the IPO and are non-refundable once your application is examined, even if the mark is later refused. That is exactly why the planning stage matters more than the filing fee.

What a registration actually buys you

It helps to be clear about what that £205 secures, because the value is what justifies the spend. An unregistered name in the UK is protected only by the law of “passing off”, which is slow, uncertain and expensive to enforce: you have to prove you own goodwill in the name, that someone misrepresented their goods as yours, and that you suffered damage. A registered trade mark replaces all of that with a clean property right.

Specifically, registration gives you the exclusive right to use the mark for the goods and services you registered; the ability to use the ® symbol, which itself deters copycats; a registered asset you can sell, license, franchise or use as security; a far easier and cheaper route to stop infringers, including through online takedown and customs seizure programmes; and a public record that warns others off before they invest in a conflicting name. For most businesses the brand becomes one of the most valuable things they own, and the cost of registering it is trivial next to the cost of losing it or being forced to rebrand. Seen that way, the question is rarely “can I afford the fee” but “can I afford not to protect the name”.

Right Start: is it worth it?

Right Start lets you test the water. You pay £125 (Stage 1) and the IPO examines your application and reports any problems — for example, that your mark is too descriptive or conflicts with an earlier right. You then decide whether to continue and pay the second £125 (Stage 2) to have the application published. For a single class the total is £250, which is more than the £205 standard fee, so Right Start is not about saving money on a clean application.

Its value is the go/no-go decision. If the examiner flags a serious objection, you can walk away having spent £125 rather than £205 on an application that was never going to succeed — and you avoid building a brand around a name you cannot protect. For first-time applicants, distinctive-but-borderline names, or crowded sectors, that early feedback is often worth the small premium. For a clearly distinctive mark in an uncluttered field, the standard route is usually the better value.

Why classes drive the cost

A trade mark is registered for specific categories of goods and services, organised under the international Nice Classification system of 45 classes (1–34 for goods, 35–45 for services). Your application only protects you in the classes you pay for. Choose too few and a competitor can use your name in a neighbouring category; choose too many and you waste money — and risk your registration being vulnerable to a non-use challenge in classes where you never trade.

This is the single biggest driver of cost and the most common place to get it wrong. A clothing brand that also sells online, for example, typically needs Class 25 (clothing) and Class 35 (retail services), and perhaps Class 18 (bags) — three classes, £325 in IPO fees. Scoping the right classes against your real and planned activities is where good advice earns its keep.

Worked example: the total real cost

Consider “Maple & Co”, a London coffee brand launching a packaged retail range. It needs three classes: Class 30 (coffee), Class 35 (retail and online sales) and Class 43 (café services). Here is how the numbers compare for a DIY filing versus using professional help.

The DIY route looks far cheaper, and for a simple, clearly distinctive mark it can be the right call. The professional figure buys you a proper clearance search, correct class scoping and someone to handle any examination objection — which is precisely what prevents a £325 filing from turning into a refused application or an opposition costing several times more. The right choice depends on how distinctive your name is and how crowded your market is.

What professional help actually costs

Professional fees sit on top of the IPO fees and vary with complexity. As a guide, a clearance search and filing for a straightforward mark commonly runs from a few hundred pounds; contested matters cost considerably more. What you are paying for is judgement: whether your name is registrable at all, which classes to claim, how to word the specification, and how to respond if the examiner or a third party raises an objection. A small spend here routinely saves a large one later, because the expensive part of trade mark work is fixing problems, not filing forms.

Renewal costs over time

A UK trade mark lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely in further 10-year blocks. Renewal costs £245 for the mark plus £60 for each additional class. You can renew up to six months early. If you miss the deadline there is a six-month grace period during which a £60 late fee applies; miss that too and the mark is removed, though you may be able to restore it for £125 within a further six months.

Over a 20-year brand life, a single-class mark therefore costs roughly £205 to register and £245 at each renewal — a modest annual cost for an asset that can become one of the most valuable things a business owns. Missing a renewal date, by contrast, is one of the most expensive and avoidable mistakes there is.

Opposition, invalidation and enforcement fees

Once your mark is examined and accepted it is published for a two-month period (extendable to three) during which anyone can oppose it. Opposition and challenge proceedings carry their own IPO fees, before any professional costs:

These figures are the official fees only. Defending or bringing a contested case usually involves a regulated trade mark attorney and can run into thousands of pounds, which is why a clean clearance search before you file is the cheapest insurance available.

Protecting your brand abroad

A UK registration only protects you in the UK. To extend protection internationally, most businesses use the Madrid System, filing one application through the IPO that designates other countries. The IPO charges a handling fee (form MM2) of £50, and you then pay WIPO’s fees in Swiss francs plus the individual fees of each country you designate. Separate national applications (for example, an EU trade mark, or a US filing) are an alternative where you only need one or two territories. International protection is a strategic decision driven by where you actually trade, not a box to tick — the costs add up quickly across multiple countries.

Six costly mistakes to avoid

• Skipping the clearance search. Filing without checking for earlier marks risks a £205 fee, an opposition, and a forced rebrand.
• Choosing the wrong classes. Too few leaves gaps; too many wastes money and invites non-use challenges.
• Picking a descriptive name. Marks that merely describe the product (or are too generic) are refused — and the fee is not refunded.
• Wording the specification badly. Vague or overly broad goods/services descriptions cause objections and weaken enforcement.
• Forgetting renewals. A missed 10-year deadline can lose a valuable mark for the sake of £245.
• Not recording changes. Failing to record a change of ownership (£60) can cause problems when you sell, license or enforce the mark.

Trade mark, company name and domain: not the same thing

One of the most expensive misunderstandings is assuming that registering a company at Companies House, or buying a matching domain name, protects your brand. It does not. A company registration simply stops another company being incorporated with an identical name; a domain is just an address you rent. Neither gives you the exclusive right to use the name as a brand, and neither stops a competitor selling goods or services under it. Only a registered trade mark does that.

In practice the three should work together: the company name establishes your legal entity, the domain secures your online presence, and the trade mark protects the brand itself. Businesses that register a company and a domain but skip the trade mark are the ones most likely to face a forced rebrand later, after they have already invested in signage, packaging and marketing. If budget is tight, the trade mark is usually the protection that matters most for long-term brand value — and at £205 for one class it is also the cheapest insurance of the three.

How to apply: the steps

The process itself is straightforward, which is why many simple marks are filed without help. Knowing the steps also shows where costs can arise:

• 1. Search first. Check the IPO register and the wider market for identical or similar earlier marks in your classes. This is free to do yourself and the single most valuable step.
• 2. Choose your classes. Identify every Nice class that matches what you sell now and plan to sell. This decides your fee (£205 + £60 per extra class).
• 3. Write the specification. Describe the goods and services clearly. Vague or over-broad wording causes objections and weakens enforcement.
• 4. File the e-TM3 online and pay the fee, or use Right Start if you want the examiner’s view first.
• 5. Examination. The IPO checks the application within a few weeks and raises any objections.
• 6. Publication and opposition. The mark is published for two months (extendable to three) so third parties can object.
• 7. Registration. If unopposed, the mark registers — usually around three to four months after filing — and lasts ten years.

At each step the IPO fee stays the same; what varies is the professional cost, which rises only if your mark is complex, borderline, or challenged.

How long does it take, and can you do it yourself?

If there are no objections or oppositions, UK registration typically takes around three to four months: examination within a few weeks of filing, then the two-month opposition window after publication, then registration. You can absolutely file a trade mark yourself through the IPO’s online service, and for a simple, distinctive mark in a clear field that may be all you need. The value of advice rises sharply with complexity — borderline distinctiveness, crowded markets, multiple classes, or any sign of a conflicting earlier right.

Series marks and recording changes

Two further fees catch people out. The first is the series application. If you have several closely related versions of the same mark — for example the same logo in different colours, or with and without a strapline — you may be able to register them together as a series of up to six. The first two versions are included in the application fee, and each additional version costs £60. This is cheaper than filing each version separately, but the variations must be genuinely minor and not materially affect the identity of the mark, or the IPO will object.

The second is recording changes after registration. If your company is restructured, sells the brand, or grants a licence, you should record the change with the IPO — a change of ownership costs £60 (form TM16), and there are similar fees for partial assignments and licences. These are small sums, but failing to keep the register accurate can cause real problems later: it can delay a sale, weaken enforcement, or leave the wrong entity named as owner. Treating the register as a living record, not a one-off filing, is part of looking after the asset.

London businesses: a quick note

The IPO fees are the same wherever you are in the UK — there is no London premium and no regional discount. What differs in a competitive market like London is the risk environment: more businesses, more overlapping brands, and a higher chance that a name you like is already taken in your sector. That makes the clearance search and class strategy more important, not the fee. For founders and growing businesses in London and across the UK, the sensible approach is to budget for the whole lifecycle — search, filing, the right number of classes, and renewals — and to get the strategy right before money is spent on the filing itself.

What we see in practice

Cost is where we see the most avoidable mistakes, and the numbers changed recently. On 1 April 2026 the Intellectual Property Office raised trade mark fees for the first time since 1998: an online application now costs £205 for the first class (up from £170), with £60 for each additional class (up from £50). The fee itself is rarely the expensive part — choosing the wrong classes is.

The real cost of a trade mark is getting the specification right under the Trade Marks Act 1994. We see businesses either register in too few classes, leaving gaps a competitor can exploit, or pay for classes they will never use. A proper clearance search before filing — checking both the register and unregistered use — usually saves far more than it costs by heading off an objection, an opposition, or a forced rebrand later.

How Hayhills can help

Filing a trade mark is not a reserved legal activity, so Hayhills can advise you directly on the commercial side of brand protection: whether your name is worth protecting, how it fits your wider brand and contracts, which classes match your business model, and how to budget for the full lifecycle rather than just the filing fee. Where your matter calls for formal prosecution before the IPO or a contested opposition, we work alongside and introduce a regulated trade mark attorney, so you get joined-up commercial and specialist advice without overpaying for work you do not need. Explore our brand protection and IP service or speak to Hayhills today. You may also find our guides on copyright protection useful for protecting the wider creative assets behind your brand.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or accountancy advice. Hayhills Limited, trading as Hayhills Legal Advisory, provides non-reserved legal advisory services. Always check current requirements at GOV.UK.

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