International · GB
Trademark refusal rate in United Kingdom: Madrid System filings
166,257 international registrations on record designate United Kingdom. Among the 41,090 designations registered 2019–2022 (the resolved cohort we measure outcomes on), 11.4% received a provisional refusal, 292 (0.7%) are still refused outright, 87 partially, and 39,943 (97.2%) hold a grant of protection. That refusal rate is below the 4.4% median across the 60 most-designated offices.
How U.S. companies fare in United Kingdom compared with 60+ other offices: where U.S. trademark owners get refused abroad.
46% of the registrations designating United Kingdom also designate the United States. Those appear in USPTO data as well, so a USPTO clearance check catches them; the rest are invisible to a U.S.-only search.
Most-designated Nice classes in United Kingdom
| Class | Goods / services | Registrations |
|---|---|---|
| Class 9 | Computers & Electronics | 50,126 |
| Class 42 | Computer & Scientific | 37,078 |
| Class 35 | Advertising & Business | 33,422 |
| Class 41 | Education & Entertainment | 22,139 |
| Class 5 | Pharmaceuticals | 18,289 |
| Class 25 | Clothing | 17,158 |
| Class 3 | Cosmetics & Cleaning | 16,381 |
| Class 7 | Machinery | 12,423 |
| Class 16 | Paper Goods | 10,676 |
| Class 36 | Insurance & Financial | 10,412 |
Who files into United Kingdom
Office of origin of the registrations designating United Kingdom, where the filers are based.
| Office of origin | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States (US) | 35,514 | 21.4% |
| European Union (EM) | 24,449 | 14.7% |
| Germany (DE) | 14,540 | 8.7% |
| France (FR) | 13,314 | 8% |
| China (CN) | 11,674 | 7% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 11,141 | 6.7% |
| Australia (AU) | 7,361 | 4.4% |
| Japan (JP) | 7,204 | 4.3% |
International registrations designating United Kingdom, by registration year
Registrations on record by the year they were registered internationally. Our copy covers registrations with activity since July 2025, so older years reflect renewals and decisions, not original volume.
| Year | Registrations | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3,903 | |
| 2018 | 4,533 | |
| 2019 | 6,492 | |
| 2020 | 8,079 | |
| 2021 | 12,053 | |
| 2022 | 14,466 | |
| 2023 | 19,520 | |
| 2024 | 26,008 | |
| 2025 | 27,956 | |
| 2026 | 15,329 |
Planning to designate United Kingdom? Run your mark through the free clearance risk check. It searches the international register in your classes and shows where similar marks were refused. If your mark has a logo, screen it with logo similarity search.