More You Need to Learn about Trademarks Registry
By: John Adam | Posted: 27th September 2011
The premier body working for the registration of trademarks in the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office, also known by the acronym of UKIPO. It is a federal government body and the domain of its jurisdictions is limited to the trade carried out within the geographical boundaries of the United Kingdom. Ever since its inception, the body has been active in promoting the importance of protecting intellectual property rights in the United Kingdom. This has been partly fostered by the unprecedented growth of communications that has made trademark protection even more difficult. With the growth of software's that allow individuals to design and imitate logos in less than one click, the role of UKIPO has gained new importance.
The registry has a data digitization section which converts the incoming applications into a digital form and issues an acknowledgement that the application has been received. The examination section has eight sub-sections which deal with specific goods and services. In case any violation of the Trade Marks Act of 1994 is found in the application, the application is sent back to the applicant to make it comply with the Ordinance. UKIPO maintains a Trade Marks Journal which advertises all the applications. The record section maintains a proper filing of its inventory i.e. all the applications. This body still needs further infrastructural support in terms of improved information technology to further automate the processes and speed material and information flow.
There are about 35-45 classes of goods and services that can be registered under the Trade Marks Acts of 1994. Some of them include chemicals, paints, industrial oils and greases, surgical and medical apparatus, vehicles, precious metals, household of kitchen appliances, coffee, tea, milk, fish, meat, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, carpets and apparel etc. The services include insurance, advertising, education, telecommunications, legal and medical services etc. A more detailed classification of the goods and services can be found on the Registry's official website.
It must also be stated here that to qualify for trademark registration as a trademark agent, one has to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and must be either a graduate in law, arts, commerce, engineering or science, or has been an officer of Basic Pay Scale 17 or above. If he considered by the Federal Government as having an unsound mind and has committed any act of negligence or dishonesty in his profession, then he is not eligible for registration at all. Since a business succeeds by the creation of value, UKIPO serves to protect that value by protecting the idea behind it. It provides various online services and has online forms. One can search all the trademarks by number, proprietor, refused mark, mark text or image, or trademarks decisions search. The Trade Marks Journal is published on its website every Friday. The website also has a Trade Mark Classification Search which helps the user to correctly classify the goods and services that he/she intends to use the trademark on. The website in effect, is chiefly designed to be user-friendly.
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Tags: precious metals, coffee tea, alcoholic beverages, fish meat, intellectual property rights, kitchen appliances, unprecedented growth, geographical boundaries, government body