Registering your company name (as a trademark)

A company cannot be founded without having an appropriate name. If the name happens to have brand potential, it quickly gains popularity and will be known for its impressive quality, so it makes sense to protect it. By registering your company name as a trademark, you can be sure that you’re able to retain the exclusive rights of your brand.

There are three ways in which a business can be registered: sole trader, limited company, or partnership. A sole trader business is easier to set up, but the downside is that you’re held responsible for your business’ debts if any should occur. A limited company means that its finances are separate from your personal finances, but you will have more management and reporting tasks to care of, although you could always hire an accountant to help out with this. Partnerships are a good way for two or more people to run a business together. This is where you would all share responsibility for your business’ debts as well as accounting responsibilities.

It is important to understand the differences between these various options, how to obtain them, and how much they cost.

The term ‘trademark’ incorporates both a traditional trademark, which represents a good and a service mark i.e. a service. It is typically names, slogans, logo designs, or symbols that differentiate your good or service from those of your competition. This means that you can trademark the same company name that you’ve registered and you also have the choice to select a slogan, an image, or the name of a popular product or service that your company offers. Trademarks usually last for as long as the owner continues to conduct business under them, and are indicators of intellectual property. Registering a trademark establishes common law rights for your company. These rights include the exclusive right to use the trademark (with its corresponding goods and services) nationwide and a legal presumption that you are the owner of the name, slogan, or image. However, these rights can be revoked if someone else is able to prove that their usage predates yours. This is why it’s so important to research your trademark extensively before applying. Once you’ve registered your trademark, it means that you can:

• Take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your permission.
• Put the ® symbol next to your brand to show that it cannot be used by anyone else.
• Sell and license your brand.

The whole process of registration takes about four months as long as there are no objections. This trademark then lasts for ten years. If your trademark is registered in the UK, it means that your brand is only protected in the UK. If you want your brand to be protected overseas, you will have to research the options for EU and international trade marks.

If you decide to use your trademark outside the UK, you need to apply to the trademark office in each respective country. To facilitate the process, European and international application systems also exist, which cover many countries and offer these benefits:

• Less paperwork
• Cheaper
• Lower agents’ costs
• Faster results
• Simple application

A prerequisite is to have a base application or registration in the UK before you apply for an international trademark. You can also apply to register in any of the countries that have joined the Madrid Protocol. To do this, you simply have to file an application with the International Bureau of the World Property Intellectual Organization (WIPO) via the USPTO, but it must be identical to your UK trademark application. As of late 2017, there are 100 members of the Madrid Union, covering 116 countries, which means your trademark would be protected in all of them. Be aware that you can only apply for a single mark when it comes to the international system as it doesn’t allow for several marks, which is possible in the UK. You should consider registering transliterations in case the country in which you want to register uses a different alphabet. Foreign entities may trademark the name of your company written in their alphabet to make a transliteration of your trademark, which they could then sneakily trademark themselves. Already registering the transliteration would prevent this from happening.

If you’re in the donut making business, you might have come up with the great idea of trying to trademark donuts as your name and maybe even attempt to secure donuts.co.uk for yourself. Unfortunately, you won’t have any luck, since the law doesn’t allow a company to claim a generic term as its proprietary mark. So terms like 'chairs', 'dogs', 'computer', etc. are out of the question. Everyone has the right to be able to use these words when describing their products or services, which is why they can’t be trademarked. A case study is 'Hotels.com' who believed they could trademark the name, since the dot com suffix took away the generic-ness of the term. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the US turned down their application on the grounds that adding the suffix doesn’t change anything, since it’s still seen as the word 'hotels'. An interesting case is that of 'Apple Inc', which is allowed to do business under the fruity name since it trades in the hardware and software sector, and not in the food sector.

There are many different options for registering your business name and protecting your company. Whether you decide to simply register locally under a DBA, register for a state trademark, or apply for federal trademark registration, it’s important to ensure you understand exactly how the process works, where to send applications, and how to conduct proper research. If you are unsure of which path to take, consulting an attorney can be a useful first step before diving headfirst into business. Alternatively, there are several companies that can help you register a domain name or trademark for a fixed fee.