How long does trademark registration take?
An EU trademark takes about four to six months from filing to registration and a UK trademark about four months, provided nobody objects. The fixed part is the opposition period: three months after publication at EUIPO, two months at UKIPO, extendable to three. An opposition adds a year or more to either.
EU and UK side by side
| Stage | EUIPO | UKIPO |
|---|---|---|
| Examination | 1 to 2 months | About 2 to 4 weeks |
| Search for earlier marks | Not carried out | Carried out and reported to you |
| Publication | Shortly after examination | Shortly after examination |
| Opposition period | 3 months | 2 months, extended to 3 if somebody files a notice of threatened opposition |
| Registration | A few weeks after the opposition period closes | A few weeks after the opposition period closes |
| Total, unopposed | About 4 to 6 months | About 4 months |
The dates that matter to you are the opposition deadlines, because they are the only part neither office can shorten and the only part a third party controls.
What sets the clock
Your filing date is what you are really buying, and you get it on the day you file. Priority runs from that date, not from registration. Somebody who files a similar mark the following week is behind you even though neither application has registered yet.
That is why the answer to "should I wait until the business is bigger" is almost always no. The queue position is the asset.
What makes it take longer
An examiner objection on absolute grounds, where the office says the mark is descriptive or not distinctive, adds two to four months while you file arguments and evidence.
An opposition adds far more. At EUIPO the cooling-off period alone runs two months and can be extended to twenty-four by agreement, before the adversarial phase starts. A contested opposition decided on the papers commonly takes more than a year from the end of cooling-off.
A clearance search before filing is the only reliable way to shorten the average, because it removes the applications that were always going to be opposed.
When do you get the certificate?
After registration, not before. EUIPO issues an electronic registration certificate that you download from the EUIPO user area; there is no paper certificate and no fee for it. UKIPO issues a certificate once the mark registers, and we forward it to you.
There is no such thing as a certificate for a pending application. Some registers issue a filing receipt, which is confirmation that the application exists and is not evidence of a registered right.
Can you speed it up?
At UKIPO, yes, to a point. UKIPO will consider a request to expedite examination where there is a reason, such as pending infringement proceedings. That accelerates examination only and does nothing to the opposition period. Our fee for making the request is €85.
At EUIPO there is a Fast Track route that brings forward publication, on conditions: the application has to use terms from EUIPO's accepted classification database and the fee has to be paid up front. It does not shorten the three-month opposition period either.
Neither route changes the part of the timetable that actually takes the time.