Earlier this week, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO)
published the Facts and Figures; Patent, trade mark, design
& administrative data 2013 and 2014 calendar
years, which provides an interesting insight into the
filing trends and administrate data over the past two years. Full
details of the report are viewable at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/433033/Facts_and_Figures_2015.pdf.
The report indicates a steady year on year increase in the number
of UK national trade mark applications filed at the UK IPO between
2010 and 2014, with the total number of applications rising from
31,763 in 2010 to 51,016 in 2014. The 51,016 applications filed in
2014 represent a 9 per cent increase on the 46,362 filed in the
previous calendar year.
Although it is difficult to identify accurately the myriad factors
that may be responsible for this consistent and fairly substantial
increase in domestic applications, one significant non-financial
contributory factor may include the growing awareness of brand
value and the importance of trade mark protection.
Heightened public awareness may be attributable to an increase in
the number of trade mark matters being reported in the mainstream
media. The past year alone has yielded a vast number of topical
trade mark articles, many of which we have discussed in our own
articles, discussing subject matter ranging from high profile
disputes involving well-known brands to celebrities registering
their names to protect their image.
There is also an increased awareness of the importance of trade
mark protection in a commercial context, particularly amongst SMEs
and tech companies. The technological boom of the past ten years
has revolutionised the corporate landscape, advertising and
traditional business models with a growing number of companies
relying on the goodwill in their brand to generate income and
encourage investment, rather than trading in tangible assets. This
period has seen a shift from the traditional corporate model in
which the primary economic resource would consist of a portfolio of
tangible assets, to a new model adopted by many tech companies
whereby large IP portfolios are a significant contributor to the
company's net worth.
It is interesting to note that the number of International
Registrations Designating the UK are down by 14 per cent over the
same period, with the total number of UK Designations decreasing
from 3,969 in 2013 to 3,482 in 2014.
While once again it is difficult to identify the precise
contributory factors that are responsible for the trend, it is not
unreasonable to assume that more applicants are opting to designate
the European Community rather than the UK in order to gain
cost-effective protection in all of the 28 Member States. This
trend will almost certainly be reversed if the UK exits the EU
following the "in-out" referendum, scheduled for 2017.
Although it will be interesting to see whether the majority of
foreign applicants decide to designate the UK under the Madrid
Protocol or whether they decide to benefit from local advice from
the outset by instructing UK attorneys to file national
applications, in view of the uncertainty relating to permissible
specification terms caused by IP Translator.
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