UK Trade Marks Rights Conferred by Registration

Jane Lambert

 

16 Jan 2026

In Trade Mark Registration, I referred to art 16 (1) of the amended Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS"):

"The owner of a registered trademark shall have the exclusive right to prevent all third parties not having the owner’s consent from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs for goods or services which are identical or similar to those in respect of which the trademark is registered where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion. In case of the use of an identical sign for identical goods or services, a likelihood of confusion shall be presumed."

TRIPS is Annex 1C to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization which establishes a legal framework for access to the world's richest markets.

That provision is implemented in the United Kingdom by s.9 (1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994:

"The proprietor of a registered trade mark has exclusive rights in the trade mark which are infringed by use of the trade mark in the United Kingdom without his consent.
The acts amounting to infringement, if done without the consent of the proprietor, are specified in subsections (1) to (3) of section 10."

Those subsections are as follows: 

"(1) A person infringes a registered trade mark if he uses in the course of trade a sign which is identical with the trade mark in relation to goods or services which are identical with those for which it is registered.
(2) A person infringes a registered trade mark if he uses in the course of trade a sign where because—

(a) the sign is identical with the trade mark and is used in relation to goods or services similar to those for which the trade mark is registered, or
(b) the sign is similar to the trade mark and is used in relation to goods or services identical with or similar to those for which the trade mark is registered,

there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public, which includes the likelihood of association with the trade mark.
(3) A person infringes a registered trade mark if he uses in the course of trade, in relation to goods or services,] a sign which—

(a) is identical with or similar to the trade mark, ..
(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

where the trade ark has a reputation in the United Kingdom and the use of the sign, being without due cause, takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the trade mark."