Is my trademark descriptive?

Trademarks describing the goods or services they intend to promote will not be accepted by the UK Trademark Registry if they do not provide any distinction.

What does it mean?

This means that you can't claim the right words or phrases that are typically used to promote goods or services that are similar to yourself.

Some examples of trademarks that registries typically reject for different reasons are as follows:

24hrsAday - Many traders advertise their goods or services 24 hours a day. The trademark will be rejected immediately because it means that the owner of the trademark will be able to claim rights to all traders using this common term.

MeatyButchers - If you trade as a butcher, these two words are just the type of merchandise you sell. Joining these two words together to form a new word does not make this mark acceptable.

PHONES direct - "Direct" describes goods or services that are sold directly to the public and are widely used by traders. "Telephone" no longer adds any distinction to the mark because it also describes the content of the mark for promotion.

a 4 you - A slogan like this is usually used for trade, so it is not unique. Using the numbers ''4' instead of the words ''for'' will not add more difference as it sounds with the words it represents the same.

What can I do to make my mark more distinctive?

If you have used descriptive tags to promote your goods/services, the ways to increase the difference can include: -

• Use ''Made-Up'' words [that is, words that don't exist yet]


• Add a logo - A well-designed logo can add a difference to your logo, but please note that this will of course limit your scope of protection [ie you will be restricted from using the logo to safely promote your goods/services]


• Pick words that are not related to the goods or services you are selling... that is, "gates" if you plan to use the trademark to promote your watch. The door is a commonly used word, but it has nothing to do with the "watch".

Common misunderstanding

Registries may reject words or logos that are less likely to be considered trademarks by the public because they are: -

*'nite' or 'fone'
* in color
*Use different fonts or fonts
*Displayed as an Internet domain name such as ".com" or ".co.uk".
* Words that are joined together to create new words, such as PHONESHOP
* A combination of any of the above.

Need to check if your trademark is too description? Get some free trademark advice now.

Glad that your mark is unique enough? Make sure it is not yet registered in our free trademark search tool.

If you have checked both of the above, you can register directly with the trademark.

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