Turnkey Trademark Registration in Ukraine

Trademark, mark for goods and services, or brand — what is actually registered

Under Ukrainian law the object being registered is a “mark for goods and services” — that is the wording used by the statute and printed on the certificate. In everyday speech and in documents the same right is called a trademark, a trade mark or simply a TM. These are synonyms for one and the same procedure, not different ones.

A brand is a broader, marketing notion: the name, the logo, the identity, the reputation and the recognition taken together. A brand cannot be registered “as a whole”, because reputation cannot be entered into a register. What is registered are the elements that can be represented graphically: the brand name, the logo, a slogan, a label, packaging or a character. That is why registering a brand means, in practice, registering a trademark for the name and the logo.

Can a trademark or a brand be patented

No — and this is the most common confusion. Patents are granted for technical solutions: inventions, utility models and industrial designs. A trademark is never patented; after the examination you receive a certificate for a mark for goods and services.

So the phrases “patent a name” or “patent a brand” are legally incorrect, although they describe trademark registration. The practical difference matters: a patent has a limited term, whereas a trademark certificate is valid for 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed an unlimited number of times — a brand can stay protected for as long as you use it.

Can you use the sign before the certificate is issued

Yes, you can start using the name immediately — there is no need to wait for the certificate. The law does not require any symbol next to the sign: ™ can be used freely, while the ® warning marking is a right of the certificate holder, not an obligation. It becomes available after registration, to show that the mark is registered in Ukraine. Before registration ® is best avoided: it misleads consumers about the legal status of the sign.

Exclusive rights count from the filing date, not from the date the certificate is issued. That means your priority is already fixed during the 14–18 months of examination. This is exactly why it is worth filing before you start spending on advertising, not after.

Is expedited trademark registration possible

Expedited registration is a separate paid procedure under which the office examines an application out of turn. It is unavailable while martial law is in force: accelerated examination of applications for marks for goods and services is suspended, so speed cannot currently be bought.

The timeline therefore depends on the examination queue rather than on a surcharge — roughly 14 to 18 months from filing to certificate. Filing early still matters: priority is fixed by the date of filing, not the date the certificate is issued. Whoever filed first holds the senior right, even while both applications are still pending.

If someone promises “expedited registration in a month”, ask what exactly they mean. Filing can be quick and a search opinion can be quick; the examination itself does not become any faster.

How much it costs to register a trademark

The cost depends on three things: what exactly you register (a word mark or a combined one, with a logo), how many NICE classes you need to cover, and whether a preliminary search is carried out. Official fees are paid separately and are also calculated per class.

A turnkey registration with Wellmarks starts at UAH 14,785 — consultation, search, drafting and filing, prosecution support and the official fees for one class. Registering a brand together with its logo costs more than a word mark, because both the search and the filing are more complex.

People often ask what it costs to buy a trademark. Legally there is no purchase involved: a mark is not bought but registered in your own name, and what you pay for is the attorney’s work and the official fees. The one thing you can actually buy is somebody else’s registered mark, under an assignment agreement — that is a separate service.

You can calculate the exact figure for your case in a minute using our cost calculator.

What you need in order to file a trademark application

Four things are enough to file: the sign itself (the name as text or the logo as a graphic file), the list of goods and services by NICE classes, the applicant’s details and a correspondence address.

No incorporation documents, charters, certificates or extracts are required — that is a common misconception. The real work before filing is not collecting paperwork, but choosing the right NICE classes and clearing the sign for similarity. And note: the public register only shows marks already registered, so a quick look is not enough — the conflict often hides among applications still under examination.

That is why we never file blind — the work starts with a trademark search and a risk opinion.

Trademark registration in Kyiv, Lviv and across Ukraine

A trademark certificate is valid throughout Ukraine regardless of the city where your business is registered. There is no such thing as a regional registration: a mark filed from Kyiv or from Lviv receives exactly the same scope of protection.

Our office is in Kyiv, but applications are filed electronically and documents are agreed online. We work with clients all over Ukraine — Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava — as well as with businesses that have relocated abroad. There is no need to visit the office.