25th Mar 2021

There has been a large increase in demand for UK trade marks and registered designs since Brexit, the UK IPO confirmed at our Spring Conference.

Comparing January 2020 to 2021 UK trade mark applications were up by nearly 50% and the demand for UK registered designs was up by some 150%.

Natasha Chick, The UK IPO’s divisional director for tribunals, trade marks and designs shared her insight into how things were looking post-Brexit at the UK registry. She was joined on the panel by Kate O’Rourke and Catherine Wolfe – who were posing the questions. 

Natasha revealed that there was a dip in demand for trade marks around the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020. However, by the summer months demand was booming – likely caused by small businesses which started up during lockdown.

There was another increase in demand towards the end of 2020, with a large number of represented customers filing UK marks before the end of the Brexit transition period. 

There was also a dip in demand for registered designs around the start of the pandemic, with this increasing steadily over the summer.

Natasha told the panel that this increased demand for filings had not yet translated into an increased demand for tribunal services, but it is something the UK IPO is monitoring.

(Source: The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys)