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Intellectual Property
Added 06/08/2009
Changes to benefit small business
From October this year, businesses will be able to register trade marks more cheaply and easily thanks to a number of new proposals announced today by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The New trade mark services from the IPO should make it cheaper and faster to complete the trade mark process which in turn is hoped to kick start small businesses.
Proposals to be introduced include:
- A ‘Right Start’ service for trade marks. A business using the new 'Right Start' service will be able to defer payment of half the usual £200 trade mark application fee until after it has seen the Intellectual Property Office's assessment of whether the mark can be registered. If there any problems, the business will have an opportunity to informally discuss them with the trade mark examiner before deciding whether to proceed with the application and pay the balance of the fees.
- An E-filing initiative. This will offer a £30 reduction in application fees for e-filed trade marks where the full discounted fee is paid at the time of filing and a £10 reduction in the application fee for e-filed patent applications. It also offers reduced fees for e-filed patent search and examination requests.
The changes are the result of the ‘Helping businesses register trade marks and patents’ consultation paper, which the IPO undertook uncover the need for a number of services aimed at strengthening business competitiveness throughout the UK.