The UK’s formal trade mark application system has been improved to help applicants avoid simple mistakes, it has been announced.
Announcing the changes, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) said the “enhanced features” are the same as those included as part of the new pre-application service launched in October 2020.
This means that all applicants will be able to benefit from the following new features:
Enhanced classification picker
A concerning number of applications are rejected every year because the product or service is filed under the wrong classification.
The new feature will help applicants select the “most relevant goods and services” for their proposed trade mark by providing fewer, but more accurate suggestions.
A short video has also been published to inform classification selections.
Optical character recognition
Known as OCR technology, the new application service will now automatically recognise text in logos and images. The applicant will be asked to confirm that the scanned text has been correctly identified.
Text was manually input under the old system, increasing the risk of error.
But “save for later” applications have been deleted
As part of these changes, any application saved using the “save for later” feature, but not submitted between 04 January 2021 and 27 January 2021, has been “lost”.
Commenting on the new features, the IPO said: “We are making these changes to enhance everyone’s experience, and ensure consistency between the new pre-application service and the trade mark application form. We know these are areas which can sometimes cause confusion or error in applications, so these changes will make the process of applying for a trade mark easier and more efficient.”
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