"TickTickTrader Ltd, an Isle of Man-based platform that trains aspiring futures traders, applied in April 2023 to register the mark 'TickTickTrader'. The name is drawn from trading floor terminology: a 'tick' is the smallest permissible price movement on a futures exchange. TikTok's legal team, drawn from one of the world's largest law firms, opposed the application outright, arguing that the name was confusingly similar to its own globally recognised brand and risked diluting its reputation. An accompanying cease-and-desist letter gave the start-up 14 days to withdraw the application, abandon the name and sign undertakings."
"On 19 February 2026, Hearing Officer Mrs E Fisher dismissed both grounds of TikTok's opposition in full and ordered TikTok to pay TickTickTrader's costs. The appeal window has now closed and the decision is final. 'Tick Tick' is not 'Tik Tok' The Hearing Officer found the two marks to be visually and aurally similar only to a medium degree, and, crucially, conceptually dissimilar. Where TikTok evokes the sound of a clock, TickTickTrader was held to conjure the image of a trader methodically ticking off positions, gain by incremental gain."
"The word 'trader', the officer ruled, was neither irrelevant nor purely descriptive: it formed an integral part of the overall impression of the mark. "I find there is no likeli"
TickTickTrader Ltd, an Isle of Man trading-education platform, applied in April 2023 to register the mark “TickTickTrader.” TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited opposed the application, claiming the name was confusingly similar to TikTok’s brand and could dilute its reputation, and issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding withdrawal and undertakings within 14 days. The company refused. After a two-year dispute before the UK Intellectual Property Office, Hearing Officer Mrs E Fisher dismissed both grounds of TikTok’s opposition on 19 February 2026 and ordered TikTok to pay TickTickTrader’s costs. The ruling found the marks visually and aurally similar only to a medium degree, but conceptually dissimilar, with “TickTickTrader” evoking incremental trading activity rather than TikTok’s clock-like sound.
Read at Business Matters
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