Each trademark registered in Ukraine has its own validity and expiration date. The Law of Ukraine on protection of rights to trademarks provides for the Certificate validity within ten years from the date of application.
How could you know about the need to renew a trademark?
It is possible to learn the expiration date of it in the Register of trademarks on the Ukrpatent website. There is a field under the number 181 in the information about the trademark, and it is there the expiration date of the Certificate for trademarks is indicated.
Ukrpatent sends a written notice in advance, but it is sent to the mailing address indicated by the customer when submitting the application. In case it`s not your actual address you will not receive a notification and will not be able to renew your trademark in time.
Aware of this situation, we have provided notifications about the expiration of a trademark for our customers. 7 months prior to the expiration date, each customer receives a message stating the expiration date of the Certificate and all the necessary information to renew a trademark.
What do you need to renew a trademark?
Of course, the owners can renew the validity of the Certificate for a period of 10 years. For this, they have to submit an application to the Office and pay the state fee. The owner can initiate a trademark renewal not earlier than 6 months before the date of its expiration. You can renew a trademark an unlimited number of times, and you have to do it every 10 years.
At Profitmark, we have fully automated the trademark renewal service. You just have to pay the bill, the rest of the work will be done by our experts.
After carrying out the necessary actions, the information on the validity of the Certificate will be changed within 3 months. The Register will already display the new expiration date of the trademark.
What will happen if you do not renew a trademark?
If you have not renewed your trademark, its action is terminated automatically. At the same time, in accordance with the legislation, its owner has 6 months to renew the trademark with a fine. We note that the cost of renewing a trademark in this period increases by 50% of the total fee for renewal. If, however, the trademark is not renewed within this period, the protection of the trademark shall cease.
Nevertheless, even if you missed all the possible renewal terms, you should not despair. The Law of Ukraine on the protection of the rights to trademarks provides the owner with a priority right to re-register his trademark. In practice, it means that even if the deadlines have passed, you have the first right to register a trademark that has not been renewed. This right is retained within 3 years after the expiration date of the Certificate. The only moment (not very pleasant), is that the re-registration process will take a lot of time. The re-registration procedure is equivalent to a new registration and takes the same time: 18-20 months. The cost of such a procedure is also no different from a new registration.
So, we summarize the aforesaid.
Of course, the best option is to renew a trademark six months short of its expiration date. In this case, you will spend a minimum of funds by paying the renewal fee only. If for some reason you have had no possibility to do it, you will have another 6 months after the expiration date of the Certificate, but the cost will be higher. And the last option is the owner’s right to re-register the trademark, that stays with him within 3 years after the expiration date. This option is the most time-consuming and is most expensive.
To date, fees for trademark renewal are:
- One class - 12000 UAH.
- Each additional class - 1200 UAH.
