Comparable Trademarks – What Are They?

With effect from 1^st January 2026, the rules relating to UK comparable trademarks will change and the use of a trademark in the EU will no longer be applicable to UK comparable trademarks.

This means that trademark owners who benefitted from the automatic creation of a UK comparable trademark based on their mark being registered in the EU must now ensure that the mark is actually used in the UK to avoid the risk of the mark being revoked.

What are UK Comparable Trademarks?

UK comparable trademarks were automatically granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office in January 2021 in respect of any mark which had already been registered in the EU. The effect of this was that the comparable marks automatically obtained the protection of formal registration as standalone UK marks.

What is changing?

A UK trademark can be revoked if it is not used within a period of 5 years. However, if the mark had been used in the EU, then that was treated as use of the comparable mark, which allowed the mark to be maintained in the UK even though it had not actually been used in the UK.

This position will change from 1^st January 2026 because this date will be the 5-year anniversary of the automatic creation of UK comparable marks. Therefore, if a UK comparable mark has not been used in the UK within this 5-year period, then it will be at risk of revocation. This would be especially important if the owner wished to rely on the registered mark in opposition to an application for registration of a UK trademark for example.

Maintaining a UK Comparable Mark

UK comparable marks retain the filing date of the original EU trademark. This means that it may be preferable to maintain the UK comparable mark rather than re-filing the mark later in order to preserve the earlier EU registration date and avoid the risk of an objection to any re-filing. Furthermore, whilst there were no costs associated with the automatic creation of a comparable mark, a re-filing would incur costs, which is a further reason for maintaining a UK comparable mark rather re-fling.

Summary

An owner of a UK comparable mark which has not been used in the UK and who wishes to maintain the mark in the UK will need to make actual use of the mark in the UK prior to 1^st January 2026. In other words, use it or lose it!

How we can help

The Corporate and Commercial team at Wilson Browne Solicitors is ideally placed to advise on all legal aspects of intellectual property, including the registration and licensing of what can be highly valuable assets which merit the appropriate legal protections. For a confidential and no obligation initial discussion about how we may be able to help, please contact the Corporate and Commercial team here or call 0800 088 6004.