United Kingdom trademark law

United Kingdom trade mark law provides protection for the use of trade marks in the UK. A trade mark is a way for one party to distinguish themselves from another. In the business world, a trade mark provides a product or organisation with an identity which cannot be imitated by its competitors.

A trade mark can be a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, sound, shape, signature or any combination of these elements. In UK law, as in most common law countries other than the United States and Canada, the term is written as "trade mark" (as in the Trade Marks Act 1994), not "trademark".

The owner of a trade mark can legally defend his mark against infringements. To do so, the trade mark must either be registered, or have been used for a period of time so that it has acquired local distinctiveness (Prior Rights).

The extent to which a trade mark is defendable depends upon the similarity of the trade marks involved, the similarity of the products or services involved and whether the trademark has acquired distinctiveness.

A registered trade mark is relatively simple to defend in a court of law. An unregistered trade mark relies on the law of passing off (where one party's goods or services are presented in a way that causes confusion between them and the goods or services of another party).

Rights have also been recently extended with regard to well-known trade marks.

The Trade Marks Act 1994 states that "a person infringes a registered trade mark if he uses in the course of trade a sign which is identical with the trade mark in relation to goods or services which are identical with those for which it is registered" (section 10(1) of the Act). A person may also infringe a registered trade mark where the sign is similar and the goods or services are similar to those for which the mark is registered and there is a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public as a result (section 10(2)).

A person also infringes a registered trade mark where a sign is identical but the goods are dissimilar if the trade mark has a reputation in the UK and its use takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the mark's distinctive character or reputation (section 10(3)).

The registration of trade marks in the UK is achieved through the UK Intellectual Property Office. If registration is accepted by the UKIPO, a number of exclusive rights are bestowed upon the trade mark owner. These rights allow the owner to prevent unauthorised use of the mark on products that are identical or similar to the registered mark.

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