Trademarks Before Funding: Why Founders Lose Their Brand at Series A
Tuli Faas May 7, 2026
Three weeks before a Series A, an investor's legal team runs a trademark search. They find a US apparel brand registered your company name in class 25 four years ago. The deal does not die — but you spend £40k of legal fees and a fortnight rebranding the product.
What to file, and when
Pre-incorporation: free Companies House and IPO availability check.
At incorporation: file in your one core class (usually 9 software, 35 advertising/business, or 42 technology services).
At first paid customer: add the second class and consider EU/US filings.
At seed: file in WIPO Madrid Protocol jurisdictions where your top 3 customers operate.
At Series A: full international watch service to flag opportunistic filings.
“Trademark housekeeping is the cheapest insurance a founder can buy. Three hundred pounds at year zero saves a six-figure rebrand at Series A.”
