Changes to trade mark application form
The UK IPO has enhanced and improved the trade mark application form eTM3.
The UK IPO has announced improvements made to the online trade mark application form (eTM3) have now gone live
From today, 28th January 2021, the eTM3 form will include a number of enhancements to improve consistency, accuracy, and provide more guidance for novices.
These changes will be visible to all users and include several enhanced features from the pre-application service.
What is changing?
The changes to the form include:
- An enhanced classification picker to help users select the most relevant goods and services for their proposed trade mark. It will provide fewer, but more accurate suggestions for relevant goods and services. Additional guidance will also be provided in a short video.
- Text from logos and images will be recognised automatically. Previously text had to be typed in manually. Users will be asked to confirm if the text has been correctly identified and will have the option to add it in manually if it is incorrect.
Why have these changes been made?
The UK IPO has made these changes to enhance the experience for all users and to ensure consistency with the new pre-application service, which was launched in October 2020.
The improvements target areas which can sometimes cause confusion or error in applications, so these changes should make the process of applying for a trade mark easier and more efficient.
The specific aims of the changes are to:
- Provide improvements to all users.
- Provide direct applicants with greater assistance in parts of the application process which typically cause confusion or error.
- Create a more consistent experience between the pre-application service and the trade mark application form.
The impact of the changes
As a result of the changes, any applications that had previously been saved using the ‘save for later’ feature on the trade mark application form have been lost.
Now that the changes have taken place, users will once again be able to use the ‘save for later’ feature.
For more information about these changes, please click here or contact [email protected].