Manage your registered trade mark

If you own a registered trade mark, there are several things you must do to maintain your registration and keep it current.

You must notify the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) if you:

• change your name, address and email that is held on the register
• notice mistakes on the register
• appoint or change representatives, such as trade mark attorneys
• surrender, ie give up your rights to a trade mark

You can carry out these notifications free of charge by filling in the relevant IPO forms. Find the forms you need to update your registered trade marks.

You will need to send your completed form(s) to:

Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales NP10 8QQ
United Kingdom

Surrender of registered trade marks

You can give up some or all of the legal rights attached to your registered trade mark - this is known as a voluntary 'surrender of registered trade marks'.

To give up your trade mark rights, you will have to send the IPO:

• a notice to surrender a registered trade mark - to give up all your rights in a trade mark
• a notice to partially surrender a registration - if you only want to give up some of your rights

There is no charge for this service.

If other persons have registered interest or any other rights in the mark, you must notify them before you file a notice of surrender.

If you're considering surrendering your rights, you should think about your reasons carefully. Surrender is a final action and you won't be able to reinstate your rights if you later change your mind.

Adding a class to a registered trade mark

When you apply for a trade mark, you specify a class or classes of goods and services that your registration will apply to.

While your application is pending, you may be able to request limited amendments to your application, including adding new goods and services to the scope of the registration.

However, once you've registered your mark, you can't expand the scope of protection - you can't add extra classes or alter the representation of the mark (eg change your logo). You may need to file a new registration to protect your existing trade mark under different classes.