Established Representative at the UK Intellectual Property Office — since 2008
An IPO examiner checks your application meets the rules — reviewing it on absolute and relative grounds before it can move towards publication.
applications stop at this stage
Coming soon — a short walkthrough of this stage.
An examiner at the IPO reviews your application. They check it on absolute grounds — is the mark distinctive, is it descriptive, could it mislead — and they search for earlier marks that are identical or similar (the relative grounds check).
If the examiner is satisfied, your application moves towards publication. If they have concerns, they issue an examination report raising an objection, and you are given time (usually two months) to respond or amend.
This is the first point where applications commonly run into trouble: across the register, around 1 in 15 applications never get past this stage — roughly 2% are refused and about 4% are withdrawn, often after an objection the applicant could not overcome alone.
It usually means the examiner has raised an objection. You will need to engage with the IPO directly, and if significant changes are required you may have to amend or even resubmit your application. The wording of your response really matters — for guidance, just get in touch.
Absolute grounds are about your mark itself (is it distinctive, or too descriptive?). Relative grounds are about clashes with earlier marks. The examiner checks both.
Often, yes — with a well-argued response or a sensible amendment. This is exactly the kind of thing a representative drafts day to day; packages start from £14/month.
The register is public, so you will receive official-looking letters and emails about your mark. Most are scams. Do not pay or reply to anything before checking with us — genuine updates appear on your Temmy portal, and we keep a directory of known scams.
We set your application live so you can see exactly where it is, in real time. Need login details? Just ask and we will send you a link.
Includes our Care of Address, which keeps your home address off the public register and cuts scam mail at source.
No obligation. Bring your name, logo or tagline and we will tell you where you stand.
Figures are derived from analysis of the public UK Intellectual Property Office trademark register (applications filed 2015 to 2023, a settled cohort of 1,340,875 marks). They describe the typical journey of a UK trademark application and are for general information — every application is different.
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