UK IPO fee increase: Practical steps brand owners can take now

The UK IPO recently announced that it would be increasing its fees from the 1^st April 2026, to help address inflation and ease future cost pressures. The increase marks the first rise in respect of trade mark matters since 1998, whilst patent and design fees have not been increased since 2018 and 2016 respectively.

The fee increase is by an average of 25%; for example, the cost of renewing a trade mark in one class will increase from £200 to £245. 

As this fee increase deadline is fast-approaching, we’ve set out below some short practical steps brand owners can take in respect of trade mark matters in particular.

Portfolio management

• As trade marks can be renewed up to six months before the renewal date, rightsholders should look to renew ahead of this deadline to benefit from the cost savings. It is therefore worth reviewing renewals with deadline dates up to and including 30 September 2026, as a renewal application for a registration due on this date could be filed on 30 March 2026 to take advantage of the lower fees.
• Consider filing any recordal requests (such as transfers of ownership or licenses) by the end of March to take advantage of lower fees.
• Consider making any new application filings, particularly if they are multi-class trade mark filings, ahead of this deadline. Where a priority deadline is involved, it may be worth filing in advance of this 1st April deadline.

Contentious actions

• If an opposition deadline falls after 1 April 2026, or a rightsholder is already considering taking contentious action against a third party right for example by filing a post-registration challenge, it may be worth filing this action before the fee increase, which would again avoid incurring these additional charges. 

Whilst in isolation the fee increases may not seem too significant, the costs can quickly mount up, especially for brand owners with large portfolios. As such, and where the fees will be paid regardless, we would recommend paying these fees ahead of the upcoming deadline in order to reduce overall costs.

If you’d like to discuss this further, we would be more than happy to review and advise on any cost saving measures that can be taken ahead of the approaching deadline; please contact me or your usual Marks & Clerk attorney.

For further recommendations on the impacts on patent portfolios, please see my colleague Annabel’s article here. 

For a full list of the specific fee increases, please see the UK IPO announcement here.