How much does trademark monitoring cost in the UK?

TMGuard offers trademark monitoring from £99/year (£74 net after tax relief). This includes weekly UK journal scanning, email alerts with risk scoring, renewal reminders, and an AI assistant. Traditional solicitor monitoring services typically cost £500-2,000/year.

How do I oppose a trademark in the UK?

You have 2 months from the publication date in the UK Trade Marks Journal to file an opposition. First, file a TM7a (free) to extend your deadline by 1 month. Then file a TM7 (£100) with your grounds for opposition. TMGuard guides you through your options at each step.

When do UK trademarks need to be renewed?

UK trademarks must be renewed every 10 years from the filing date. Renewal costs £200 for one class plus £50 for each additional class. TMGuard sends escalating reminders at 12, 6, 3, and 1 month before renewal.

TMGuard is an AI-powered UK and EU trademark monitoring platform for small businesses. It scans over 7 million trademarks across the UK IPO and EUIPO registers, alerts you to conflicts, guides you through opposition options, and tracks renewal deadlines - from £99/year.

A TM7a is a Notice of Threatened Opposition filed with the UK IPO. It is free to file and extends your opposition deadline by one month without committing to full opposition.

When does my trade mark expire? Free renewal date checker

7 March 2026·5 min read

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UK trade marks expire every 10 years

A registered UK trademark is valid for 10 years from the date of filing. After that, you need to renew it — or lose your protection entirely.

The IPO will send a reminder about six months before the renewal date, but these reminders go to the correspondence address on record. If your contact details have changed, if you've moved offices, or if the reminder gets buried in a busy inbox, you might not see it in time.

Trademark renewal is not automatic. Unlike domain names, which most registrars will auto-renew if you have a payment method on file, trademark renewals require you to actively submit a form and pay a fee. Miss it, and your protection starts to unravel.

Check your renewal date

If you have a UK trademark registration number, you can look up your renewal date using our free renewal checker. Enter your registration number and we'll show you exactly when your mark expires, plus the classes it covers and the current owner on record.

If you don't know your registration number, you can search by brand name to find your mark in the register.

Renewal fees

The IPO charges the following fees for trademark renewal:

Online renewal — £200 for the first class, plus £50 for each additional class
Paper renewal — £250 for the first class, plus £50 for each additional class

For example, renewing a mark registered in three classes costs £300 online (£200 + £50 + £50). Online renewal is cheaper and faster, so there's little reason to use the paper form unless you have specific requirements.

You can renew up to six months before the expiry date. The new 10-year period starts from the original expiry date, not the date you renew — so you don't lose any time by renewing early. In fact, early renewal is the safest approach and something we strongly recommend.

Grace periods and late renewal

If you miss the renewal date, you have a six-month grace period to renew late. However, the IPO charges an additional £50 restoration fee on top of the standard renewal fees.

After the six-month grace period, the mark is removed from the register. You can apply for restoration within a further 12 months, but this is discretionary — the IPO doesn't have to grant it. You'll need to demonstrate that the failure to renew was unintentional and provide a good reason for the delay. Even if restoration is granted, there may have been a period where your mark was off the register and unprotected.

What happens if you don't renew?

If your registration lapses, the consequences can be serious:

You lose the exclusive right to use the mark in the UK for those goods and services
Anyone can file a new application for the same or a similar mark in your classes
You may still have common-law rights through use, but these are much harder and more expensive to enforce than a registration
Competitors or cybersquatters could register your brand name while your protection is lapsed
Amazon, eBay, and other platforms that require trademark registration may restrict your brand protections and listing controls

Re-registering a lapsed mark means starting from scratch — a new application, a new examination, a new publication period. And if someone has filed a similar mark in the meantime, you could find yourself in an opposition dispute that wouldn't have existed if you'd simply renewed on time.

Common renewal mistakes

From what we see in the register data, the most common renewal issues are:

Changed address — The IPO reminder went to an old address. Always keep your correspondence address up to date with the IPO. You can update it online through the IPO's forms service.
Attorney changed firms — If your original attorney has moved or retired, the renewal reminder may go to the wrong place. Check who is listed as your representative on the register.
Business sold or restructured — The mark is still in the original owner's name. If you've acquired a business that owns trademarks, make sure to record the assignment with the IPO so you receive renewal notices.
Assumed it was automatic — A surprising number of business owners believe trademark renewals happen automatically or are handled by their accountant. They don't. You need to actively renew.
Forgot about additional classes — If your mark is registered in multiple classes, the renewal fee is higher. Some owners renew the first class but forget the additional class fees, leading to partial loss of protection.

Check your mark now

Use our free renewal date checker to find out when your UK trademark expires. And while you're here, search the register to make sure nobody has filed a conflicting mark since you last checked. If you want ongoing protection, set up a watch — TMGuard monitors the Trade Marks Journal every week so you don't have to.