8th July 2025

On 27 June 2025, the UKIPO issued a Practice Amendment Notice (PAN 1/25) with guidance for trade mark applicants following the Supreme Court’s decision in Sky Ltd v SkyKick UK Ltd which we reported on last year (read here). This landmark decision addressed bad faith in relation to trade mark specifications, particularly where an applicant has adopted a broad specification with no intention to use the mark across all the goods and services claimed.

Changes to the UKIPO’s approach

It was not the routine policy of UKIPO examiners to raise objections against overly broad specifications in trade mark applications. PAN 1/25 changes that. Examiners will now consider raising an objection where the specification is so broad that there is arguably no intention to use the mark for all the goods and services claimed. No specific guidance is provided on when such an objection would raise but examples given include filing applications in all 45 classes of the International Classification of Goods/Services, or claiming all goods in class 9 (which covers everything from breathing apparatus to scientific equipment to computer software to mobile phones).

The change of approach set out in PAN 1/25 came into immediate effect on 27 June 2025.

Considerations for Trade Mark Applicants

The UKIPO has advised trade mark applicants to:

• Consider whether the goods and/or services sought for registration represent fair and reasonable claims in the context of their business.
• Exercise caution when applying for:
• Broad terms and general terms such as “clothing“, “pharmaceuticals” and “computer software” (for some applicants, this terminology may represent good faith if it truly reflects their intended use);
• A large number of goods and services across multiple classes;
• Class headings.
• If the scope of a trade mark application is questioned by an examiner at the UKIPO, applicants must be prepared to explain their commercial reasons.

Should an objection be raised by the UKIPO, applicants will have two months to respond by either explaining the commercial rationale for the goods and/or services concerned or restricting their coverage to better reflect their commercial rationale. If the objection is maintained, the applicant will have an opportunity to request a hearing and/or appeal.

PAN 1/25 also highlights that defendants in opposition and cancellation proceedings may also file counterclaims on bad faith grounds if the proceedings are based on applications/registrations with overly broad specifications.

You can find the full Practice Amendment Notice here.

If you have any questions relating to this new guidance, please get in touch with a member of our Brand Protection team and we will be able to assist.