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Which countries are 'First to use'?

Founder & Trademark Attorney

The first-to-use system is used by a small number of jurisdictions, most notably the US and Canada. Australia historically used a first-to-use system but now operates a first-to-file system; commercial use can still be relevant evidence in Australian proceedings, but is not the primary basis for priority.

The vast majority of the world's trademark jurisdictions, including the EU, UK, China, Japan, and most others, use first-to-file systems.

Related questions

How long does it take to register a trademark?

We have looked into the last 1,000 trademarks registered in main intellectual property offices, including USPTO (United States), UKIPO (United Kingdom), EUIPO (European Union), CNIPA (China), CIPO (Canada), ROSPATENT (Russia), IPA (Australia), BOIP (Benelux), IGE-IPI (Switzerland), NIPO (Norway), KIPO (Republic of Korea), and CGPDTM (India), exploring the average time it takes for a trademark to be registered in the selected jurisdictions.

Global Trends in Trademark Registration in 2022

In 2021, the IPO received a record 196,639 trade mark applications, a 43.5% increase from 2020 which was the previous record year for trade mark applications [1]. Both the number of applications and trade marks registered have been consistently rising since 2011. As the numbers continue to grow in 2022 we can observe a number of trends that continue to influence the world of IP rights.

Stories of our clients: Sl'eau

“Testing how the garment fits, testing how comfortable it is to wear and testing how well the fabric holds up in the long term are all things that Shein and the like skip to churn out clothes at the rate that they do. Sweatshops and slave labour allow them to sell the garments for the prices that they do. We do things differently” Read the full story of Vanessa Jones, the founder of Sl’eau, another inspiring brand protected by Trama that brings quality and craftsmanship back to the fashion industry.