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Is it a bad idea to only register the trademark in the UK now if we intend to add USA, EU, Canada and Australia later?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

Starting with the UK now and adding other jurisdictions later is a reasonable approach, particularly if the UK is your primary market and budget is a constraint. It is not a bad idea; it is simply a staged approach with a known risk attached.

The risk is priority. Once the six-month Paris Convention window from your UK filing date closes, each new application in a different country will use its own, later filing date. If a third party files a similar mark in the US, EU, Canada, or Australia during the period before you file there, they would have priority over you in those markets.

If you suspect that a competitor might be filing in those markets soon, filing all five simultaneously is the stronger approach. If that risk is low and budget is the main constraint, the staged approach is practical and commonly used.

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