Guidance

New signs notified under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention

Updated 15 April 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-signs-notified-under-article-6ter-of-the-paris-convention/new-signs-notified-under-article-6ter-of-the-paris-convention

Article 6ter of the Paris Convention is an international treaty to which the UK is a party. It protects armorial bearings, flags, official signs, hallmarks and other State emblems of the States party to the Convention. Armorial bearings, flags, emblems, abbreviations and names of international intergovernmental organisations are also protected, provided a party to the Convention is a member. 

Signs under this Convention are protected against use or registration as trade marks by third parties, unless authorised by the relevant party to the Convention. Existing trade marks are unaffected. They can continue to be used and maintained even if they are identical to a sign subsequently protected under this international treaty.

The UK has a period of 12 months from the publication date to determine whether the signs will be protected in the UK or an objection should be submitted.  

All protected and newly published signs are accessible via WIPO’s Article 6ter Express Database . 

The IPO welcomes views from interested parties regarding the newly published signs. In particular, any concerns that the protection of a sign may affect prior trade mark rights should be marked for the attention of the Trade Mark and Designs Policy Team and sent to us via information@ipo.gov.uk.  

You should include:   

  • details of the sign(s) you have concerns about 
  • details of the existing trade mark(s), where relevant 
  • why this sign should not be accepted and under what grounds the IPO should object 
  • any additional information which is relevant for the IPO to review 

All concerns will be considered and if appropriate, the IPO will raise an objection to the sign’s protection in the UK with the International Bureau at WIPO.

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