Registration of a new trademark during rebranding
When to amend the old mark and when to register a new one
Rospatent allows making changes to an already registered trademark only in a narrow range of cases — when formal details or minor elements are changed that do not affect the consumer's perception of the designation. As soon as the verbal element, composition, color dominance, or overall impression of the mark changes — it's no longer about an amendment, but about a new object of protection, which requires separate registration.
| What happened during rebranding | What to do | Filing fee |
|---|---|---|
| The applicant's details have changed (address, legal entity name) | Make changes to the existing mark | from 2 800 rubles |
| The font, proportions, and color were slightly adjusted without changing the semantic core | Make changes to the designation | from 4 800 rubles |
| The brand name has changed, a verbal element has been added/removed, or the composition has been radically altered | Registration of a new trademark | 35 000–50 000 rubles per one Nice class |
The boundary between a 'minor change' and a 'new mark' is legally blurred, and it is precisely at this boundary that companies most often lose money and time—either overpaying for full registration where a simple amendment would suffice, or receiving a refusal where they expected to get away with a small fee.
Why Rospatent rejects applications even with visual differences
Here works the doctrine of 'legal identity' — and this is what most often breaks the marketing department's plans. Even if the new logo differs from the old in font, letter size, or layout of elements, an expert may recognize the designations as identical if these differences 'extremely little' affect the perception of the mark by consumers. The practice of the Court of Intellectual Property confirms this: in cases SIP-635/2018 and SIP-427/2019, the court recognized the updated designations as identical to the old ones despite visual differences — the key factor was not what changed graphically, but whether the key recognizable element that forms the brand's image in the audience's eyes was preserved.
Practical conclusion: if rebranding preserves the semantic core (the same word, the same symbol in a recognizable form), attempting to register the 'updated version' as a fundamentally new mark is a risky strategy; the examination will most likely refuse it due to identity with an earlier mark of the same owner.
Timelines and full cost of new registration
Formal examination of the application takes up to one month, substantive examination — up to 12 months by law, so registration can stretch up to 18 months. In practice, in the absence of objections from third parties and requests from the examiner, the process is completed within 7-12 months. Making changes to an already existing mark proceeds significantly faster — measured in weeks, not months.
- Filing fee for the application and examination — from 4 000 rubles.
- Fee for substantive examination — approximately 13 000 rubles per one Nice class
- Fee for registration and issuance of the certificate — approximately 18 000 rubles.
The final amount for one class of goods and services usually totals 35-50 thousand rubles — and this is without counting the services of a patent agent, who in practice is almost always needed if the mark is word or combined and there is a risk of encountering similar designations of competitors.
What happens to the old mark after rebranding
The mistake that many companies make is to register a new mark and then simply forget about the old one, continuing to use it only out of inertia on old packaging or in archival documents. This is a bad idea. According to Article 1486 of the Russian Civil Code, any interested party, including a competitor, may file a petition for early termination of trademark protection due to continuous non-use for three years. Consumers, on average, remember the old brand longer than this period — which creates an opportunity for counterfeits and parasitic use of the former name's recognition.
A proper strategy is not to abandon the old mark, but either continue to formally use it at least in a minimal volume (for example, on part of the products or during a transition period), or consciously prepare for its loss and beforehand secure rights to a new mark with a broader scope of protection, covering the weak points of the old one.
Case study: how Sberbank did it
A good example of a systemic approach is Sberbank. The company currently operates under two trademarks: No. 597317 'Sberbank' and No. 762980 'Sber', which was registered precisely during the rebranding. The company did not attempt to 'adjust' the old mark to the new short name — it registered a new protected object while retaining rights to the previous one. This is exactly the model that should be adopted: a radical change in the name almost always requires separate registration, while the old certificate remains a safeguard during the transition period and protection against third parties using the old name.
Checklist for the legal department before rebranding
- Conduct an audit of all currently active company trademarks and Nice Classes for which they are registered.
- Evaluate how the new designation differs from the old one in terms of semantic core — whether the verbal element, recognizable symbol, and composition are preserved.
- Order a preliminary search for identity and similarity of the new designation with third-party marks before finalizing the logo design.
- Determine whether making changes (quick and inexpensive) is suitable or a full new registration is required.
- Initiate the registration process in parallel with branding development, not after launch — taking into account the timeframe of 12 months.
- Plan the fate of an old trademark: extend its use, prepare for transfer, or consciously allow its termination with the fixation of new rights that supersede its goods and services.
- Record in internal documents the schedule for transitioning to the new name in all legally significant materials — contracts, packaging, signage.
When to amend the old mark and when to register a new one
Rospatent allows making changes to an already registered trademark only in a narrow range of cases — when formal details or minor elements are changed that do not affect the consumer's perception of the designation. As soon as the verbal element, composition, color dominance, or overall impression of the mark changes — it's no longer about an amendment, but about a new object of protection, which requires separate registration.
| What happened during rebranding | What to do | Filing fee |
|---|---|---|
| The applicant's details have changed (address, legal entity name) | Make changes to the existing mark | from 2 800 rubles |
| The font, proportions, and color were slightly adjusted without changing the semantic core | Make changes to the designation | from 4 800 rubles |
| The brand name has changed, a verbal element has been added/removed, or the composition has been radically altered | Registration of a new trademark | 35 000–50 000 rubles per one Nice class |
The boundary between a 'minor change' and a 'new mark' is legally blurred, and it is precisely at this boundary that companies most often lose money and time—either overpaying for full registration where a simple amendment would suffice, or receiving a refusal where they expected to get away with a small fee.
Why Rospatent rejects applications even with visual differences
Here works the doctrine of 'legal identity' — and this is what most often breaks the marketing department's plans. Even if the new logo differs from the old in font, letter size, or layout of elements, an expert may recognize the designations as identical if these differences 'extremely little' affect the perception of the mark by consumers. The practice of the Court of Intellectual Property confirms this: in cases SIP-635/2018 and SIP-427/2019, the court recognized the updated designations as identical to the old ones despite visual differences — the key factor was not what changed graphically, but whether the key recognizable element that forms the brand's image in the audience's eyes was preserved.
Practical conclusion: if rebranding preserves the semantic core (the same word, the same symbol in a recognizable form), attempting to register the 'updated version' as a fundamentally new mark is a risky strategy; the examination will most likely refuse it due to identity with an earlier mark of the same owner.
Timelines and full cost of new registration
Formal examination of the application takes up to one month, substantive examination — up to 12 months by law, so registration can stretch up to 18 months. In practice, in the absence of objections from third parties and requests from the examiner, the process is completed within 7-12 months. Making changes to an already existing mark proceeds significantly faster — measured in weeks, not months.
- Filing fee for the application and examination — from 4 000 rubles.
- Fee for substantive examination — approximately 13 000 rubles per one Nice class
- Fee for registration and issuance of the certificate — approximately 18 000 rubles.
The final amount for one class of goods and services usually totals 35-50 thousand rubles — and this is without counting the services of a patent agent, who in practice is almost always needed if the mark is word or combined and there is a risk of encountering similar designations of competitors.
What happens to the old mark after rebranding
The mistake that many companies make is to register a new mark and then simply forget about the old one, continuing to use it only out of inertia on old packaging or in archival documents. This is a bad idea. According to Article 1486 of the Russian Civil Code, any interested party, including a competitor, may file a petition for early termination of trademark protection due to continuous non-use for three years. Consumers, on average, remember the old brand longer than this period — which creates an opportunity for counterfeits and parasitic use of the former name's recognition.
A proper strategy is not to abandon the old mark, but either continue to formally use it at least in a minimal volume (for example, on part of the products or during a transition period), or consciously prepare for its loss and beforehand secure rights to a new mark with a broader scope of protection, covering the weak points of the old one.
Case study: how Sberbank did it
A good example of a systemic approach is Sberbank. The company currently operates under two trademarks: No. 597317 'Sberbank' and No. 762980 'Sber', which was registered precisely during the rebranding. The company did not attempt to 'adjust' the old mark to the new short name — it registered a new protected object while retaining rights to the previous one. This is exactly the model that should be adopted: a radical change in the name almost always requires separate registration, while the old certificate remains a safeguard during the transition period and protection against third parties using the old name.
Checklist for the legal department before rebranding
- Conduct an audit of all currently active company trademarks and Nice Classes for which they are registered.
- Evaluate how the new designation differs from the old one in terms of semantic core — whether the verbal element, recognizable symbol, and composition are preserved.
- Order a preliminary search for identity and similarity of the new designation with third-party marks before finalizing the logo design.
- Determine whether making changes (quick and inexpensive) is suitable or a full new registration is required.
- Initiate the registration process in parallel with branding development, not after launch — taking into account the timeframe of 12 months.
- Plan the fate of an old trademark: extend its use, prepare for transfer, or consciously allow its termination with the fixation of new rights that supersede its goods and services.
- Record in internal documents the schedule for transitioning to the new name in all legally significant materials — contracts, packaging, signage.
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