Do DIY trademark applications fail more often? In my experience, yes, and the IPO’s own published figures point the same way. When the IPO looked at series applications in 2022, 39% of those filed by applicants without a representative drew an objection, against 17% of those filed by represented applicants. But the bigger risk isn’t always refusal. More people are now getting their own applications through to registration, and some of those registrations don’t stand up when someone challenges them later.
That second part is the one I’d pay attention to. If you’re weighing up whether to file yourself, use us or use an attorney, our honest comparison of self-filing, The Trademark Helpline and a trademark attorney sets the options side by side. This article is about where a DIY trademark application tends to come unstuck, and why.
Do DIY trademark applications fail more often?
They run into objections more often, and the IPO has said so in writing. In its 2023 consultation on its transformation programme, the IPO reported that around 65% of series applications came from unrepresented applicants, that 39% of those were objected to in 2022, and that the figure for represented applicants was 17%. It concluded that unrepresented applicants have difficulties filing series marks. That’s one type of application, not the whole register, but it’s the IPO’s own number and it shows the pattern clearly.
I’m deliberately not quoting a single headline multiple for all applications here. Figures like that depend heavily on which period, which applications and which outcomes you count, and I’d rather give you one number I can source than a bigger one I can’t.
Why are more people filing their own trademarks?
Because it’s never been easier to get an application in. The online form is straightforward, and AI tools will happily help you pick classes, draft a specification and press submit. I’m seeing more applications without a representative getting all the way to registration, and I think AI has a lot to do with that.
I don’t think that’s a bad thing in itself. AI is a brilliant assistant and a poor researcher, as I’ve written about in our piece on AI and trademarks. It can help you fill in the form. It can’t tell you, with a verifiable source behind it, whether someone else already owns something close enough to cause you a problem, or whether the specification you’ve ticked will hold up later.
What has changed for DIY filers since SkyKick?
The “tick every box to be safe” approach now gets challenged at examination. Most owners filing their own trademark tick as many terms as they can, on the basis that more is safer. The Supreme Court’s decision in SkyKick v Sky in November 2024 said otherwise: applying for goods and services you have no intention of using can be bad faith. We explained the ruling in our article on the Supreme Court and overly broad trademark filings.
On 27 June 2025 the IPO put that into practice. Under its new guidance for applicants, examiners can now raise a bad faith objection where the specification, the list of goods and services your mark covers, looks manifestly broad. A claim for all 45 classes, or for everything in class 9, triggers one automatically. You then have two months to explain your commercial reasons or cut the list back.
Here’s the thing though. DIY filing was already the riskier route long before this change. The new practice just sharpens a gap that was already there.
Is getting registered the same as being protected?
No. Registration is a starting point, not the end game. A certificate tells you the IPO accepted the application. It doesn’t tell you the registration will survive the first time somebody pushes back, and there are three points where a weak one tends to give way.
At examination
The examiner can object that the mark is descriptive, not distinctive, or, since June 2025, filed too broadly. You have two months to respond. Plenty of DIY applicants don’t know how to answer an objection, so the application is refused or withdrawn and the official fee has bought nothing.
During the opposition period
Once accepted, the application is published for two months, extendable to three, and the owner of an earlier mark or earlier right can oppose it. The IPO tells earlier registered owners about conflicting applications. It doesn’t stop your application for them. That’s their call to make, and a proper search before filing is how you find out whether they’re likely to make it.
After registration
This is the one that hurts most. A registration can be challenged later on the basis that it was filed in bad faith, or, once it’s five years old, cut back for goods and services that haven’t been genuinely used. It’s actually worse to lose a trademark after you’ve invested years of time and money into it, thinking the registration alone meant you were fully protected.
When does doing it yourself make sense?
Sometimes it does, and I’d rather say so than pretend otherwise. If you have a genuinely distinctive name, a clear search, one or two classes and a simple list of goods or services, a careful DIY application can work. Plenty of people do it successfully.
Where I’d be more cautious is anything with moving parts: a name that’s close to something already registered, a product that spans several classes, a logo you want to protect as well as the name, or plans to trade overseas. That’s where the application is the easy bit and the judgement around it is what you’re really paying for. It’s why our UK trademark registration service includes a pre-application clearance audit and a specialist drafting the specification, and why we deal with the IPO through examination if an objection comes back.
What’s the simple way to avoid a failed application?
In my experience the fix is simple, boring and cheap. Work out what you genuinely sell, or genuinely plan to, and file for that. A proper search or clearance audit before you commit does gently what a refusal does the hard way.
My guidance, for what it’s worth, is to be specific about what you do and about what would actually infringe on you enough to cause confusion. Don’t take a scattergun approach. Trademarks are relatively low cost partly because you’ll often want to update them within 10 years anyway, so they keep reflecting who you are and what you do.
There’s no point registering a trademark if it won’t stand up to scrutiny. As I’ve said before, the most expensive trademark application is the one that fails.
If you’re about to file, start with our free trademark search. If you’d like a second pair of eyes on the specification before you commit, our trademark consultation and clearance audit starts from £99, and the consultation is free for new clients. You can book a free call, email enquiries@thetrademarkhelpline.com or ring 0161 833 5400.
Related questions
- What are trademark classes, and which ones do I need?
- Can someone trademark a name I’m already using and force me to stop?
- Can someone steal my business name?
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute trademark advice or guidance. Last reviewed 25 September 2026. First shared as a LinkedIn post.
