UKIPO Fee Hike Lands as Foreign Filings Surge Tests System Capacity

On 1 April 2026, the UK Intellectual Property Office implemented its first trademark fee increase since 1998, and the timing could not be more pointed.

Standard one-class trademark applications jumped from £170 to £205, part of an average 25% increase across patents, designs, and trademarks. But the real story lies in why these fees were necessary, and what it reveals about the pressures on Britain's IP system.

UKIPO trademark fees had remained frozen for 28 years, while design fees held steady since 2016 and patent fees since 2018. The office cited a 32% rise in inflation since 2016 and "future cost pressures that cannot be fully offset through efficiency savings or existing reserves."

Yet the fee increase arrives amid unprecedented filing volume from foreign applicants, particularly from China. Chinese companies filed 350,484 trademark applications abroad in 2024, more than any country worldwide, with the U.K. emerging as a top destination.

The Chinese Filing Phenomenon

In 2024, approximately 6.7 million trademark applications were filed in China, with 3.1% from foreign applicants - figures that dwarf the UK's capacity. But Chinese companies are increasingly looking outward. Australia experienced a 24% surge in foreign filings, reaching 20,936 applications, driven largely by applicants from China and the U.S.

For UK practitioners, the implications are clear. The fee increase, modest by international standards, reflects genuine cost pressures from rising caseloads. The UKIPO has updated guidance warning of "considerably longer wait times for decisions" including 10 months from hearing date in opposition and cancellation proceedings.

Digital Transformation Under Pressure

The fee increase funds the "One IPO Transformation Programme" aimed at modernising digital services. Some digital services will be available from Autumn 2025, starting with the digital patents service. One confirmed change is the removal of series marks, a long-overdue simplification given their limited protective value.

But the system faces pressure from multiple directions. Brexit clone trademark owners must show genuine UK use by 1 January 2026 to defend against non-use cancellation, adding complexity.

Getty's Precedent Sets Boundaries

On 4 November 2025, the High Court delivered Getty Images v. Stability AI [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch), the first UK judgment considering copyright and trademark infringement in AI development.

The court found limited trademark infringement where Stable Diffusion generated images with Getty watermarks identical or similar to registered marks under sections 10(1) and 10(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994, but only for specific instances and early versions.

The court held that AI model weights are not a "copy" of training images in the sense required by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, as they contain statistically trained parameters, not stored copies or reconstructions.

The judgment gave "very little clarity on the legality of AI models being trained on copyright works" due to jurisdictional and evidentiary issues. Getty abandoned its primary copyright claims because training occurred outside the UK.

Strategic Implications

The fee increase affects practice strategy. Trade marks and registered designs can be renewed up to six months early, allowing practitioners to lock in lower fees before deadlines. Across large portfolios, bringing forward filings and renewals can generate substantial savings.

For foreign applicants, particularly Chinese companies expanding globally, the UK remains attractive. Despite fee increases, the UK remains cost-effective compared to many European jurisdictions and major IP offices.

The Getty decision provides some clarity on AI-generated content liability: technical measures like watermark filtering can limit exposure. But the core question of whether training AI models on UK-hosted content constitutes primary infringement remains unresolved.

The UK Government must publish its full report on copyright works in AI development by March 2026, which may introduce text and data mining exceptions similar to the EU. Until then, the intersection of rising fees, surging foreign applications, and AI-generated content creates a perfect storm for Britain's IP system.

The One IPO transformation cannot come soon enough.