UKIPO Tribunal proceedings are not one thing. Each route has its own form, deadline, and strategy. Pick the one that matches your situation.
Someone has filed a TM7 against your trademark application. You have 2 months to respond or your application is treated as abandoned. We file the counterstatement, run evidence, and represent you to decision.
A third party has applied for a mark that conflicts with yours. The published application has a 2-month opposition window (extendable to 3 months by TM7A). We file the notice of opposition and represent you through proceedings.
A registered trademark is on the register that should never have been registered - it conflicts with your earlier mark, it lacks distinctiveness, or it was filed in bad faith. Invalidation strikes it off as if it never existed.
A registered mark has not been used for 5 years for the goods or services it covers. You can have it revoked, freeing up the register and potentially clearing a conflict with your own application.
Which form do you need? What is the deadline? What is the official fee?
UKIPO official fees current from 1 April 2026. Source: gov.uk Trade Mark Forms and Fees.
A quick decision tree. If you are unsure, email us your facts and we will tell you free of charge within 24 hours.
You need opposition defence. File a TM8 counterstatement within 2 months of the TM7 being served. If you do nothing, your application is treated as abandoned. We handle the full defence for £1,200 fixed. See the opposition defence page.
You can file an opposition within 2 months of publication (extendable to 3 months by filing a TM7A first). Grounds depend on whether you have an earlier registered mark (section 5) or whether the mark is descriptive or filed in bad faith (section 3). Email us with the application number and we will tell you whether a TM7 or TM7F is appropriate.
Two options. If the registered mark has not been used for 5 years in the goods or services it covers, file a TM26(N) revocation for non-use. If the registered mark should never have been registered in the first place - because it conflicts with your earlier rights, lacks distinctiveness, or was filed in bad faith - file a TM26(I) invalidation. Both routes can be combined.
Invalidation attacks the registration on the basis that it should never have been registered. If successful, the mark is treated as if it never existed (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.47). Revocation removes a mark from the register for events after registration, most commonly non-use for 5 years (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.46). Revocation operates from the date the application for revocation is filed, not retroactively.
A standard contested opposition or invalidation runs 12 to 18 months from first filing to decision. A fast-track opposition is shorter, typically 6 to 9 months. Most cases settle before decision - 25% of UK oppositions are defended, and 35% of those reach a decision.
UKIPO costs are awarded on a published scale (Tribunal Practice Notice 1/2023) on a "contribution-not-compensation" basis. The loser pays a contribution to the winner's costs, not the winner's full legal bill. In a fully fought case the scale typically awards a few hundred to a few thousand pounds total. Off-scale costs are available only where a party has behaved unreasonably.
Yes. The Tribunal accepts filings from litigants in person. The risk is that trademark pleadings are technical, and a winnable case can be lost on a procedural slip, a missed proof-of-use point, or a poorly drafted counterstatement. Unrepresented parties also recover costs only at the CPR litigant-in-person rate (currently £19/hour under TPN 1/2023).
Either party may appeal within 28 days of the decision (s.76 Trade Marks Act 1994). The appeal lies to the Appointed Person - an independent senior IP barrister whose decision is final - or to the High Court (Chancery Division), from which a further appeal lies to the Court of Appeal. The choice is strategic: Appointed Person is faster and cheaper but final; High Court is slower and more expensive but allows further appeal.
Direct access to a qualified solicitor. No junior handlers, no farming out.
Solicitor of England & Wales (SRA No. 641612). Advocate of India. Qualifying as Irish Solicitor in 2026.
Acted in multiple opposition proceedings before the UKIPO. Comfortable with pleadings, evidence, and Tribunal hearings.
Manages multi-jurisdiction trademark portfolios for corporate groups across UK, EU and India.
You see the cost of every step before you instruct it. Western Legal is not VAT-registered.
Free review within 24 hours. We will tell you which route applies, what it will cost, and whether it is worth pursuing.
Statutory basis: Trade Marks Act 1994 s.5, s.38, s.46, s.47, s.76. Procedure: Trade Marks Rules 2008 rr.17 to 21. Costs: Tribunal Practice Notice 1/2023.