Trademark renewal
A trademark renews every ten years. EUIPO charges €850 for one class under Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 and UKIPO charges £245. Both allow a six-month grace period after expiry with a surcharge, and after that the registration lapses and the name is free for anyone to take.
Prices exclude VAT.
When the deadline falls
Ten years from the filing date, not from the registration date. This catches people out, because the two can be six months apart and the diary entry most people make is the one they were told about last, which is registration.
You can pay from six months before expiry in both systems. If you miss the expiry date there is a further six months in which you can still renew, with a surcharge on top.
| EUIPO | UKIPO | |
|---|---|---|
| Term | 10 years from the filing date | 10 years from the filing date |
| Renewal window opens | 6 months before expiry | 6 months before expiry |
| Grace period after expiry | 6 months | 6 months |
| Late surcharge | 25% of the renewal fee, capped at €1,500 | £60 |
| After the grace period | The registration lapses | The registration lapses |
The EUIPO figures are Annex I, items 12 to 14 and 19, of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, the EU Trade Mark Regulation.
What renewal costs
| Official fee | Our fee | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK, first class | £245 | €325 | €635 |
| UK, each additional class | £60 | €78 | €155 |
| UK, late renewal in the grace period | £60 | €110.50 | €190 |
| EU, first class | €850 | quoted on request | |
| EU, second class | €50 | quoted on request | |
| EU, each class from the third | €150 | quoted on request |
EU renewal fees are the same amounts as the original application fees. There is no discount for renewing and no increase for having held the mark for a decade.
What happens if you miss it
The registration lapses at the end of the grace period and the mark comes off the register. There is no restoration procedure at EUIPO equivalent to the one in patents. What you are left with is whatever unregistered rights your use has generated, which in the UK means passing off and in most EU states means very little.
Somebody else can then apply for the same mark. In practice competitors and watch services do monitor lapsing registrations, so a valuable mark does not sit unclaimed for long.
Refiling is possible but it is a new application with a new filing date, so you lose ten years of priority. Anyone who filed a similar mark during the gap is now ahead of you.
Do you have to prove use to renew?
No. Neither EUIPO nor UKIPO asks for evidence of use at renewal. You pay the fee and the registration continues.
Use matters separately. A mark registered for more than five years can be revoked for non-use, and an opponent relying on it can be put to proof of use. Renewing a mark you have never used keeps it on the register without making it enforceable. How to prove use of a registered trade mark in the European Union sets out what the evidence has to show.
Should you renew everything?
Renewal is the moment to drop classes you never used and marks you no longer trade under. Each class you carry costs money every ten years, and an unused class is the part of the specification an opponent attacks first.
We review the specification against what the business actually sells before renewing, rather than renewing the registration as filed.