Information Day Presentation July 2014

2. Heather Gopsill
Tanya Peake

3. Agenda
 Welcome to our Networking & Information Day
 Companies House
 The Limited Company
 Online filing
 30 minute comfort break
 Our information services
 Key conclusions
 Intellectual Property – what is this?
 Information & Demo Points – ask us!

4. Who we are

5. What we do

6. How we do it

7. Why we do it
‘the heart of company information in the UK, recording the life
events of companies for ALL to see’
 A world class information exchange
 Accessible, easy to use
 Creating excellent customer experiences
 Providing trusted information

8. All company types
 Private Limited Companies
 Public Limited Companies (PLC)
 Dormant Companies
 Limited Liability Partnerships
 Community Interest Companies
 Micro-Entities

9. Secretary & director responsibilities

10. Secretary duties
Every Public Limited Company needs one
Private companies – it is optional
Usual duties include:
 Notifying changes
 Maintaining statutory registers
 Notifying members and auditor of meetings
 Providing copies of resolutions and agreements
 Supplying copies of company accounts

11. Directors’ responsibilities
 Accounts and Annual Returns are delivered
 Registered office and SAIL address is correct and operational
 Directors’ and secretaries’ details are
kept up to date
 No under 16s appointed (except for LLP)
 No upper age limit
 At least 1 “natural person” appointed (except for LLP)

13. WebFiling

17. Keep your code safe
 Make sure your code isn’t easily guessable
 Mix letters with numbers in your code
 Only share your code with trusted company personnel
 Change your code if company personnel changes
 Change your code if you think the code has been discovered
 Tell your agent before you change your code
 Use a different code for each company
 Don’t leave your code lying around

19. Single Alternative Inspection Location
Or known as “SAIL” applies if:-
Your company records & registers are not kept for inspection
at the registered office address
 Only one SAIL address allowed
 Address notification required
 Records & registers at the address required
 Also notified on annual return

20. Trading disclosures
Company name to be displayed at:
 All places of business
 Registered office address
But does not apply to:
 Primarily residential addresses
 Dormant companies

21. Trading disclosures
All items of business stationery & communications including
emails and company website must show:
 Company name
 Place of registration
 Registered number
 Registered office address
 Director information
 If being wound up, that fact

23. Directors service addresses
Based on privacy
Any address (not P.O.) for the public
register
Usual residential address for protected
register
Change notice can be completed online
Historic addresses can be “expunged” for at
risk officers

25. Annual Return
 Not the financial return
 All companies have to file one each year
 Based on your Legal Return Date
 Snapshot of the company details at this date
 Must be filed within 28 days of this date
 £13 filing fee online (£40 for paper filing)
 Over 98% are now filed online

28. Accounts
 Some Account types can be filed online
 Companies have to file accounts each year
 Whether trading or not
 Strict filing times laid down by Parliament
 Based on your accounting reference date
 Automatic penalties for being late
 No filing fee

30. Accounts – joint filing with HMRC
HMRC – Companies House statement joined up approach to using
iXBRL and a joint template
What is iXBRL?
 Download PDF template via Companies House WebFiling
and HMRC
 Submit using accounts software packages
 Prepare once – file twice

31. Joint filing

33. Accounts Filing Periods
Private Co - 9 months from the accounting reference date
Public Co - 6 months from the accounting reference date
New Companies 1st Accounting Period
Private Company - 21 months from date of incorporation
Public Company - 18 months from date of incorporation

34. Late Filing Penalties
 Civil Penalty against the company
 Introduced 1 July 1992 and amended 1 February 2009
 Accounts only
 Accounts must be received by Registrar by due date
 Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running
 Appeals procedure
 Registrar has very limited discretion not to collect a penalty

35. Late Filing Penalties
Length of Period
Public
Company
Don’t forget…
Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running
Private
Company
Not more than 1 month
£750
£150
More than 1 month but not more than 3
months
£1,500 £375
More than 3 months but not more than 6
months
£3,000
£750
More than 6 months £7,500
£1,500

36. Surprising Statistic

37. Don’t hide behind your advisors

38. Compliance

39. Prosecution

40. Dissolution and voluntary strike-off
 Straightforward procedure
 Company not traded or changed name in last 3 months
 Form DS01must be completed
 Majority of directors must authorise application
 £10 fee to pay
 Can take 6 months and is subject to third party objections
 DS02/LLDS02 withdrawal of application to strike off
 Reversible process via restoration process

41. Companies House
30 minute comfort break

42. WebFiling and PROOF scheme
PROtected Online Filing - PROOF
Stops the filing of certain paper forms i.e. :-
Company officers appointments / terminations / changes
Change of the registered office
Annual Return
NOTE: Accounts are not included in the scheme
Paper forms are rejected and sent to the registered office
address
50-100 Corporate identity fraud cases per month

44. WebFiling and eReminders
Join eReminders for:
A timely email reminder of when your accounts and annual
returns are due at Companies House.
The option of a maximum of 4 email addresses per company.
An alternative to paper reminder letters sent to your
registered office address

48. Searching

49. Mobile App

50. Mobile App
 Mobile app is FREE and available for Apple and Android
 Available to download from Apple App Store or Google Play
 Only free information is available on this service – no hidden
costs
 Allows you to check company information ‘on the go’
 Stats and our latest Tweets can be viewed on the App
 Feedback is welcome

51. Mobile App
Save most frequently viewed companies in
your ‘Favourites’ for Amber / Red Alerts
when AR and AA are due / overdue
Variety of sort options in favourites –
including company name, number or when
accounts or returns are next due for filing

52. WebCHeck & Companies House Direct
WebCHeck
No subscription
Pay as you go
Company name availability
search
Detailed filing history
Free current appointments
report
Disqualified director
search
Document download area
Monitor service
Companies House Direct
Monthly subscription
Monthly invoice
Company search
Officer enquiry
Disqualified directors
search
Document packages
Insolvency history
Full filing history
Certified document
ordering
Document download area
Monitor service

53. Monitor
 FREE Service available via CHD and WebCHeck
 Part of the 3-point-plan to prevent corporate identity
fraud
 Email alert service for documents filed by ANY company

54. Other products
 Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI)
 Free Company Data Product
 Free Accounts Data Product
 Bespoke Products

55. The Companies House Service
 Transforms our electronic services, with modern technology
and a new web service
 Better and simpler for customers, making it easier to view and
update company information

56. Companies House Service

61. Key conclusions
 Think “e” – and enjoy the benefits now
 Filing online saves you time
 Meeting filing deadlines saves you penalties
 Up-to-date records create confidence in your company
 Our Information online can help you
 Companies House is here to help you
Web: www.companieshouse.gov.uk

62. Online user panel
 Help us understand how you use our online services
 Your Feedback and Your experiences
 Details on our website

63. Thank you for listening!
Any feedback?
eventsteam@companieshouse.gov.uk

64. Contact us
Telephone: 0303 1234 500
email: enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk
RSS feeds: www.companieshouse.gov.uk
Follow us: Facebook: facebook.com/CompaniesHouse
Twitter: @CompaniesHouse
LinkedIn
Companies House You Tube Channel

65. Question Time

66. providing company
information that
customers value “
”

67. Intellectual Property
Explained
Andrew Reith
Business Outreach & Education
@The_IPO

68. Intellectual Property Office
Executive Agency within Department of Business, Innovation
and Skills (BIS)
1000+ staff based in Newport in South Wales, 50 based in
Victoria, London
Our task is to help stimulate innovation and raise the
international competitiveness of British industry through
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

69. IP Survey
70% of delegates who we spoke to acted upon the
information they received
98% of our trade mark filings and 87% of our patent filings
are made online
Our Twitter followers rose from 21,000 in April 2013 to 35,000
by March 2014
19% rise in demand for domestic trade marks in 2013/14

71. What is intellectual property?

73. What is a Registered Trade Mark?
Any sign which is capable
of being represented graphically
Any sign which is capable of
distinguishing the goods or services
of one undertaking from another
“A Badge of Origin”

74. What can be registered as a trade mark?
Name Logo
Colour theme Shape theme
Smell
Domain name Slogan
Non-traditional Music

75. True or False
You cannot register a dictionary word
Changing the spelling makes it different
You do not have to use a registered trade mark
I have registered at Companies House so I own the
trade mark

77. UK Applications
Fees:
Application fees: £170 – Includes one Class
Additional Classes £50 each (up to 45 Classes)
Timeline:
Examination within 2 months of filing
Registration (unopposed) in 5 months

78. Domain names
Trade Mark registration is not company
name or domain name registration
A domain name may be
registered as a Trade Mark
Incorporating another’s RTM into your domain
name or meta-tag may be an infringement

79. Trade Mark Registration Overseas
Paris Convention - six months priority
OHIM – Community Trade Mark
e-filing fee €900
WIPO - Madrid Protocol

80. Why infringement searches?
Avoid expensive mistakes
Awareness of competing marks
Early resolution of potential problems

84. True or False
If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not protected
I can copy 10% without it being an infringement
If I acknowledge the original work, I can use it
I have bought the book/painting/photograph so I can use
it as I wish

85. Copyright Conventions
Berne Convention - Accepted in 1886
Works protected by national law irrespective of where
the work was created
163 Countries are parties to the Convention
Universal Copy right Convention
Adopted in 1952
An alternative for Countries that believed that Berne
overly benefited Western developed copyright
exporting nations

86. Copyright
1.Literary Works – All works expressed in print or writing.
2.Dramatic Works – A work capable of being performed.
3.Musical Works – includes melody, harmony and rhythm.
5.Films – Moving images produced by any means.
6.Sound Recordings – a recording of sounds, from which the
sounds can be reproduced.
7.Broadcasts – transmission of visual images, sounds or
other information.
8.Published Editions – typographical arrangements.

87. Who owns Copyright?
Usually the first creator or author...
…or their employer if produced in the
ordinary course of their employment
However, a contractor will retain ownership
unless their contract is explicit to the contrary
Even if the creator sells their rights, they have
‘moral rights’ over how their work is used

88. Who owns copyright?
David J Slater
The term ‘authorship’ implies that, for a work to be copyrightable, it must owe
its origin to a human being. Materials produced solely by nature, by plants, or
by animals are not copyrightable.

89. How long does Copyright last?
Literary, musical, artistic & dramatic works:
author’s lifetime plus 70 years
Films: 70 years after the death of the last of:
director, composer of any music specifically created
for the film, the author of the screenplay and the scriptwriter
TV & radio broadcasts: 50 years from first broadcast
Sound recordings: 70 years from first publication
Published editions(typographical layout):
25 years from first publication
Uploading a work which is out of copyright to the internet may
create new copyright so don't assume it is copyright-free if you
want to use it.

90. Top Dead Earners 2013
2. Elvis Presley - $55m
3. Charles Shultz - $37m
4. Elizabeth Taylor - $25m
5. Bob Marley - $18m
6. Marilyn Monroe - $15m
7. John Lennon - $12m
8. Albert Einstein - $10m
9. Bettie Page - $10m
10. Theodor Geisel - $9m
Source Forbes.com
1. Michael Jackson - $160m

92. Registered Designs
Protects shape or configuration (3-D)
and/or pattern or ornamentation (2-D)
No protection for function, materials
or technology of manufacture
No protection when form is dictated
by function (ie: no design freedom)

94. Criteria for ‘patentability’
Patents are for “technological innovation”, though the
Patents Act 1977 fails to define the word “invention”
Inventions must be new - not known
anywhere in the world prior to the filing date
Inventions must have an ‘inventive step’ - not
obvious, a simple adaptation or combination
Inventions must be industrially applicable
and have a ‘technical effect’

95. Gov.uk/ipo - 0300 300 2000
Information@ipo.gov.uk

97. Thank You
Andrew Reith
andrew.reith@ipo.gov.uk
@The_IPO