A registration that is not renewed at the ten-year point expires, and after a short grace period it is removed from the register. You may see such marks shown as ‘Expired’, ‘Removed’ or ‘Dead’.
Unlike refusal or opposition, this is almost always a choice (or an oversight) rather than a flaw in the original application. The risk is practical: once removed, your protection is gone and the name may become available to a competitor.
What to do & be aware of
Set a reminder well before your renewal date.
A lapsed mark can sometimes be restored within a limited window, act fast.
A “Dead” status simply means no longer live, it does not mean it was ever rejected.
We manage renewals so registrations do not lapse by accident.
Real cases at this stage
Trademark cancellation cases from the UK courts, from SkyKick v Sky to the ESB case, on bad faith, non-use and invalidity, and what each means for you.
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.