Father Christmas and the Unfortunate Trade Mark Trouble
Posted on in Intellectual Property
Father Christmas prided himself on being ahead of the curve. Every year, he updated his operations: streamlined elf-workflow management, reviewed his privacy notice, and checked his GDPR-compliant naughty-and-nice database. This year, though, he wanted to go bigger. He wanted new branding. Something memorable – something sleek that would put the North Pole Delivery Service firmly on the commercial map.
After several focus groups with elves and reindeer over some mulled wine, he unveiled his brand new slogan for the Christmas delivery service: ‘THE WORLD’S BEST CHRISTMAS DELIVERY SERVICE’
The elves clapped, their rosy cheeks glowing from the mulled wine and Christmas spirit. Mrs Claus raised an eyebrow, but Father Christmas was thrilled. He imagined the words emblazoned on the sleigh, shining across the night sky.
Before any paintbrushes were lifted, however, the Head Elf in Compliance cleared his throat and produced a very long scroll.
“Er… Father Christmas… we’ve done our standard registrability review. And… well… your slogan is hopelessly descriptive.” He continued, “According to Tozers’ insight, ‘How strong is my branding?’, the name is problematic. We’ve summarised it here.”
The workshop was silent.
The Head Elf explained in stern but sympathetic tones. “Your slogan, ‘THE WORLD’S BEST CHRISTMAS DELIVERY SERVICE’, is purely descriptive. It tells the public exactly what you claim the service is. That means it cannot function as a proper badge of origin. It’s not distinctive. It would be extremely difficult and, maybe impossible, to register as a trade mark, or to enforce if someone else tried to copy it. We certainly could never register it with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, the body responsible for maintaining the register of trade marks there.”
The Head Elf looked imploringly at Father Christmas. “And think about the poor IPO Examiners. They have hundreds of applications to review. Filing something that’s plainly descriptive would just create unnecessary work for them, and that wouldn’t be fair, especially in the run-up to Christmas!”
Father Christmas blinked. “But it sounds good. It’s exactly what I want to convey.”
“Precisely,” said the Head Elf. “But trade mark law isn’t about describing your product with references to the product’s characteristics. It’s about distinctiveness.”
Mrs Claus signed. “Then we must treat this like a lesson. Branding isn’t just slogans and sleigh paint – it must meet legal criteria. We need a slogan that can stand up as a strong mark.”
Father Christmas rubbed his beard. He looked crestfallen. “Right, back to the drawing board next year then. We can set aside some time to brainstorm at our summer conference.”
A nearby elf nearly dropped the iPad in her hand.
“Summer? Father Christmas, that would be.. unwise.” The elf waved her iPad – a website with a purple header flashed up. “Because trade mark fees at the IPO are due to rise in April 2026. Tozers have already published information on this – their insight ‘How to save on trade marks before 2026: strategic fling tips’ explains that applications filed before the increase could save us money, especially if we want to register a combination of words, stylised logos, and a combination of both to ensure the best protection.
Father Christmas pushed his glasses further up his nose and signalled for the iPad.
The elf complied and lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. “If we wait until late next year, we might miss the cheaper filing window.”
Father Christmas blinked. “More expensive.. to protect a brand I don’t even have yet?”
The Head Elf reappeared and joined the other elf. “Exactly. And if we’re going to land on a distinctive, strong trade mark, ideally that sits in the upper tiers of Tozers’ five levels of trade mark protection, we’ll want to get it filed before the fees go up.”
“There are so many ways to trip up with trade marks”, said Father Christmas, looking concerned.
“Exactly”, said the Head Elf. In fact, Tozers have written all about that too in their insight, ‘8 common trade mark errors and how to avoid them’.”
“Excuse me”, said the other elf. “We need to consider the timeline. Even once we submit a properly distinctive mark, registration takes time – typically around two to three months from when the application is filed, sometimes longer if there are objections or oppositions. That’s why we cannot afford to delay filing.”
Father Christmas straightened his coat, feeling suddenly energised. Turning to the Head Elf, he said, “Then we'd better get this right sooner rather than later. No waiting until the summer conference – no delay. We reach out to Tozers now. How do we get in touch?”
“Their website says you can speak with a lawyer today in a no-obligation phone call. I’ll give them a jingle bell.”
And so Father Christmas beamed, the elves rallied, the workshop buzzed with creativity once again, and the mission resumed: finding a form of wording strong enough to register and early enough to beat the April 2026 fee rise.
Don’t let your branding get stuck in a snowdrift! Sleigh on over to Tozers for expert trade mark advice — they’ll help you wrap up your IP before the fees rise.