Law and practice snippets: April 2026
An update on recent practice points by our Law and Practice Committee, including a new Designs Practice Notice, certificate issuance and tribunal timescales.
News of note
UK IPO – Fees increased on 1st April 2026
The UK IPO has now implemented its fee increase, with an average increase of 25%. The fee for filing a trade mark application online in one class has increased from £170 to £205, and renewal fees have increased from £200 to £245 for an online renewal in one class. Additional class fees at filing and renewal will increase from £50 to £60.
Full details, including a link to the full table of cost increases can be found here.
UK IPO – New Designs Practice Notice (DPN) 01/26
The UK IPO has published Designs Practice Notice (DPN) 01/26 with updated guidance for registered design applicants seeking to protect icons, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), web pages and other digital designs.
The DPN clarifies examination practice in relation to designs that contain, in particular, any form of animation or movement. It sets out how the IPO will examine applications covering both static and animated designs, with practical examples on where to use multiple views.
It also explains the requirement for clear indications of product and the role that written disclaimers may play in the assessment of a design. This is to ensure that a single, unitary overall impression is shown on the register.
The practice set out in the DPN will take effect immediately and can be found here.
Working with the registries
Via the Law and Practice Committee, CITMA meets regularly with the UK IPO and other registries to discuss points of practice and raise important feedback and questions submitted by members.
UK IPO – Timeframes, volumes and appeals
The UK IPO publishes its estimated overall timescales for tribunal activity, including timescales from filing of a TM7 or TM26 to issuance of a decision (currently 19 months for a decision from the papers, and 34 months for a decision following a hearing), as well as the volume of cases awaiting decisions (current total pending is 779).
The data also shows that that timescales for listing of a hearing is currently 10 months from the date of hearing request, with hearings being scheduled to take place within 15 months of date of request.
In order to reduce both the decisions backlog and the waiting time for hearings, the Tribunal proposes listing a number of cases it considers to be suitable for hearing with a reduced time allocation of strictly two hours (as opposed to the standard half-day listing), in short-format hearings to take place during June and/or July 2026.
The parties in relevant cases which are identified as being suitable for this format are being invited by the UK IPO to confirm their interest in participating in a shorter-format hearing, which will then proceed in the event that both parties confirm their acceptance.
The UK IPO regularly updates its published data on timescales, volumes and appeals, full details of which can be found here.
UK IPO – Scam emails and reporting of sharp practice
We continue to monitor fraudulent requests for payments and other examples of sharp practice. Please do continue to advise clients of the likelihood of receiving these communications and to report anything suspicious. Members can send examples to [email protected], marked for the attention of the Law & Practice Committee along with confirmation that the client is happy for the information to be sent to the UK IPO.
Contact details for reporting to Action Fraud and to the IPO can be found here.
International updates
WIPO – Survey on certificate issuance by designated offices upon grant and renewal
WIPO is running a survey to gather views on whether offices of designated Madrid System members should be required to issue a national or regional certificate when granting protection or renewing an international trade mark registration. The deadline to complete the survey is 24th April 2026, and feedback is anonymous.
Libya – Trade mark renewals
The Libyan Trademark Office has revised its renewal practice, confirming that all trade mark renewals will now be granted strictly for ten-year terms. Applicants can no longer request renewals for a shorter period, as was previously allowed. The update aligns practice with Article 1257 of the Trademark Law, which provides that registered marks are protected for ten years, renewable for identical periods. Brand owners should adjust renewal strategies accordingly.
Further detail available here.
Cases of note
Parabolica Limited v Tesla Holding A.S. [2026] EWHC
On 13th February 2026, the High Court handed down its judgement in the above case, addressing the timing for assessing absolute grounds under Section 3 TMA. The case concerns an application for the mark TESLA in classes 12, 25 and 28 which was originally filed at the EU IPO on 17th April 2007 (with a priority date of 17th October 2006).
As the mark had not reached registration in the EU by the IP Completion Day on 31st December 2020, the Applicant was permitted to file an application for a corresponding UK trade mark, which it did on 14th September 2021, pursuant to the Withdrawal Agreement.
The UK application was opposed under Section 3(6), as well as 5(1), 5(2)(a) and 5(3) of the UK TMA. The Hearing Officer partially upheld the opposition under 5(2)(a) and upheld the entirety of the opposition under 3(6), based on an assessment as at the UK filing date.
The Applicant appealed the decision and the Court decided that the relevant date for the assessment of absolute grounds is the EU filing date, not the UK filing date. Referring to Article 59(1), the Judge states “that there can be no real doubt that the parties intended the EU Filing Date to be used as the application date for all relevant purposes. That is the effect of the express words – the application "shall be deemed to have the same filing date … as the corresponding application filed in the Union" (paragraph 53) and concluding “Article 59 is clear in its intention to deem the application date of any EU application ported to the UK to be the EU Filing Date” (paragraph 61).
The impact of this decision is expected to be limited as it is primarily relevant to a small number of cases before the UK IPO Tribunal, and only those involving absolute grounds.