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The UK Intellectual Property Office ( IPO) recently celebrated 150 years of trademark registration, emphasising that some of the country’s most iconic brands have been around for some time. What all these businesses have in common is that they all started small. For example, Shell is one of the UK’s most financially valuable brands and historically tops rankings. Tesco is the UK’s largest supermarket chain. Rolls-Royce is recognised as the UK’s strongest brand based on the Brand Strength Index. Furthermore, Greggs is also a hugely popular bakery chain embedded in British high streets. These examples show that a powerful and protected brand can become over time. The lesson for every business owner is that the brands we treat as untouchable national institutions were once start-ups, one-person operations or family businesses. What stood out from them wasn’t just a good product but a decision which is taken early to protect the name and identity that customers came to trust.
Why 150 years of registration still matters to your business
A trademark essentially is a promise. It ensures the customer that the services or goods carrying it came from a particular source made to a particular standard. The IPO now safeguards more than 2.5 million marks, and the number of applications filed each year continues to break records. The modern competitive environment involves lots of online competition now. Businesses now tend to compete on websites, apps and marketplaces. Customers can compare brands straight away. For instance, many brands are built on digital platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X. This means that copycats can appear very quickly, and the risk of imitation and damage to reputation can spread very fast, so online competition makes brand identity much more vulnerable. Through international selling, even small UK businesses sell worldwide, and competitors from other countries can use similar names. The name above the door is often the most valuable asset a company can own. A registered trademark gives you an enforceable legal monopoly over your brand in relation to the goods or services you have registered it for. Without any sort of registration, you are depending on the common law tort of passing off, which is pricey, demanding and uncertain. Registration guarantees certainty, and passing off does not.
3 practical lessons from the iconic 10
Make sure to register as early as you can. Monzo, Shell and Vodafone did not wait until they were household names to protect their own brands. They registered when they were still evolving and growing because they knew and understood the principle of a brand being worth protecting from the start and the very moment customers start recognising it. By the time the imitators arrive, it is often too late or too expensive to imitate. Every small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) should treat trademark registration as part of starting the business, not as a luxury later.
Think beyond the word
Some of the UK’s strongest trademarks are non-word marks. These often include colours, shapes, patterns, logos and sounds. The TFL Roundel, the bright orange shape of Shell, the circular emblem of Dove and the Spirit of Ecstasy in Rolls-Royce are non-word marks which took decades of consistent use to establish. UK law enables you to not only register names and logos but, in the correct circumstances, the colours, shapes, packaging and even sounds. If your business has a unique visual identity, it is worth considering whether more than just the name should be on the register.
Cover the right classes
Trademarks are registered in classes which correspond to a particular set of goods or services. They only tend to protect the goods and the services which you register, and there are 45 classes, so you must choose the right ones. Being too narrow can equal weak protection, meaning that competitors can use your name for related products. However, being too broad can equal legal problems, so you risk objections or cancellation for non-use. Top UK Brands such as Cadbury cover chocolate and drinks; M&S covers clothing, homeware and food. As a result, SMEs must think ahead and question what you sell now, what you could sell in the future, and the classes must match your commercial reality.
The brands which did not make the list
For every iconic mark on the IPO’s top ten, there are thousands of businesses whose names have been forgotten, lost or imitated by someone else. It is worth reflecting that “aspirin”, “escalator” and “trampoline” were once all protected brand names. They all lost the protection because the public used the name as a generic word. The register is not just a one-time exercise, and the iconic status comes from consistent and protected use over many years. If you do not enforce your trademark, you risk losing it, and if your brand becomes a generic term, you can lose exclusivity, so SMEs must protect their brand to avoid any sort of dilution. What SMEs should learn is that registration is not enough, and you must monitor misuse; protecting your brand requires ongoing enforcement, and a trademark can be weakened if you don’t use it properly. The registration process is accessible, but SMEs should still take care to file correctly.
What has changed in 150 years and what hasn’t
Trademark law has evolved dramatically over the past few years since Bass & Co. Today, many businesses protect digital services, apps, online platforms and global e-commerce activities, and filing is far more accessible through the IPO’s online system. On the other hand, the core principles have not changed and require consistent use and enforcement to remain strong. Although the marketplace is modern, the underlying lesson remains the same. SMEs must protect their identity early and maintain it carefully if they want their brand to grow over time.
Your next steps
The brands which will be recognised when the UK marks 200 years of trademark registration in 2076 are being built today. Many of them will begin as small ventures or early ideas, and their future strength will depend on whether their owners choose to protect their identity at the correct moment. Acting early can be the difference between owning your brand decades from now or watching someone else secure the rights first.
At The Trademarkroom, we support businesses at every stage of their journey from first-time applicants filling a single UK mark to companies managing wider portfolios across the EU, US and beyond. If you are unsure whether your brand is properly protected or you are considering filing for the first time, our team can offer clear guidance, fixed fee options and practical support to help you secure your brand with confidence.
By Shantal Remzi
