Turnkey Trademark Registration in Ukraine

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

The certificate itself reads “Trademark”. Trade mark, TM and mark for goods and services are just different names for the same right. So registering a trademark, a TM or a mark for goods and services is one procedure, not several.

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: TM can be used freely, while the R 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 R 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 at Wellmarks

The cost depends on: 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.

Wellmarks fees are UAH 9,000 and up — the patent search, drafting and filing, and prosecution support for a word mark in one class. The official UKRNOIVI fees are paid separately at the state tariff; the full list with amounts is given in the frequently asked questions. 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 work out a rough figure for your case using our cost calculator.

Who to choose for trademark registration in Ukraine

If you are looking for someone to register a trademark in Ukraine, check four things: whether there is a patent attorney, experience with comparable applications, the quality of the preliminary search, and support in the event of a refusal. The first three decide whether the application reaches a certificate; the fourth decides what happens if the examination issues a provisional refusal anyway.

A patent attorney is not a synonym for a lawyer: they are on the state register of intellectual property representatives and may act before UKRNOIVI on your behalf. A general-practice lawyer can draft an agreement but cannot represent you in the examination.

Wellmarks is a patent and law firm specialising in the registration and protection of trademarks. We handle applications for e-commerce, IT, restaurants, manufacturing, clothing and cosmetics: a search before filing, the right NICE classes, and support all the way to the certificate, including the response to a provisional refusal.

What you need in order to file a trademark application with Wellmarks

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 the work starts with a trademark search and a risk opinion.

Who to register a TM to: an individual, a sole proprietor, or a company

The applicant and certificate owner can be an individual or a legal entity — sole-proprietor (FOP) status plays no separate role here. A FOP in Ukraine is not a legal entity in its own right, only a status of an individual's business activity, so registering a trademark "on a FOP" is not legally possible: the certificate is always issued to a person by name.

This does not stop you trading under the registered brand: an individual owner who also holds FOP status is free to use the mark in their business. If the brand is registered to a company instead, the legal entity becomes the owner, not its founder personally.

It is worth deciding before filing: the owner can be changed later, but that is a separate procedure — an assignment agreement and a new filing with UKRNOIVI.

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, where we meet clients in person — an application can also be filed fully remotely, with documents 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.