Your most important asset is your brand! Pay close attention to its protection by learning the know-hows from the small business experts. Check out this article

1. Free Report -"The six essentials you need to
protect your small business"
First Name * Email *
Essential steps to protecting your most valuable asset–your brandEssential steps to protecting your most valuable asset–your brand
 Tuesday, 31 December 2013 10:49
 Suzanne Dibble
 0 Comments
Your brand is unquestionably one of your most important assets. So it stands to reason that you should pay close attention to
protecting it.
But what is a brand anyway? Well according to the Intellectual Property Office:
“A brand can be a trade name, a sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service or
business. But a brand is much more than this; it can also be a ‘promise of an experience’ and conveys to consumers a certain
assurance as to the nature of the product or service they will receive and also the standards the supplier or manufacturer seeks to
maintain. Brands are therefore reputational assets based on powerfully held beliefs; they drive the understanding of value in a
product or company, and, perhaps most importantly, customer loyalty.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself…
Building your brand starts as early as choosing your business name. You need to make sure that nobody else is using your name in
relation to a similar product or service so that (i) you can properly protect your name and (ii) you aren’t going to be infringing anyone
else’s property.
The best protection to have for your brand is a registered trademark. There are a number of ways that you can check whether
anyone else is using your proposed business name. Start off with a Google search and then search on Companies House Webcheck
for limited companies or LLPs that have the same or similar name. Then search the Business Names Registry online for free – it
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

2. doesn’t include every business in there but it does show sole traders and partnerships, which the Companies House search won’t
reveal. And then finally you need to do a trademark search to check that your proposed name is not already trade marked – you can
do this by visiting www.ipo.gov.uk.
Once you have checked that nobody else is using your proposed business name in relation to similar products or services, you need
to check that your name is capable of protection. Trademarking your name is the best protection that you can have, but your name
will have to meet certain criteria for it to be capable of trademark registration.
If your proposed name doesn’t distinguish your goods or services from your competitor and is too descriptive of your goods and
services e.g. Suzanne’s Legal Services, then you probably won’t be able to trademark the name. There are other criteria that you
need to meet (such as the mark not being deceptive, offensive or against the law) and you can read more about this at
www.ipo.gov.uk.
The main benefit of having a registered trademark for your business name is that it gives you the absolute right to stop a competitor
using the same business name. Without a trademark you would have to fight a potentially difficult, expensive and uncertain passing
off claim.
Small business owners are often daunted by the prospect of applying for a trademark but the truth is that it is a relatively easy
application process that can be done entirely online on the IPO website. The fees are affordable for most small businesses – for UK
protection in one class the fees are £175 or £200 depending on what service you opt for. Do be sure to get your application
absolutely right though as the Intellectual Property Office does not give refunds for incorrectly submitted applications.
Once the application is received, the IPO publish the application and there is a two month window in which objections can be made,
most likely by competitors who think that the mark is too similar to theirs and will risk confusion. If your application isn’t challenged,
you should be the owner of a shiny new trademark within 4 to 6 months from the date of your application.
Once you have your registered trademark, you can start to use the symbol ® to warn people off using it, but be warned that to use it
without owning the registered trademark is a criminal offence.
Once you have your trademark, if a competitor comes along and starts to use your name, then a simple “Cease and Desist” letter
(essentially a letter stating that you own the trademark, they are infringing it and if they don’t stop using it you will take legal action)
should see them off… However, do be very careful not to make an unjustified or groundless threat, as making an allegation of
trademark infringement could result in the other party bringing a claim against you for unjustified threats. If in doubt, consult your
lawyer!
It might also be worth you registering your business name as a limited company if you think at any point in the future you may want
to trade through a limited company, in order to prevent anyone else from taking the name. The company can remain dormant until
you want to trade through it, but you must file dormant accounts and annual returns. It is also possible to trade through a limited
company that has a different name to your trading name but most businesses like the name to be the same. A common mistake is
thinking that registering a company name will give you the same protection as registering a trademark – it won’t; all it does is
prevent someone else registering a company with the same name, they could still trade under your business name if you haven’t
trade marked it.
So if you haven’t already taken steps to trademark your business name, perhaps this is something that you need to put on your ‘to do’
list.
Have you taken the step of registering your business name as a trademark? Did you encounter any difficulties? Have you actually
enforced your rights against a competitor? Share your comments here and let other small business owners benefit from your
experience.
© Suzanne Dibble 2013
Disclaimer: The information contained above is based on English law only and is provided for information purposes only. The contents
of this article are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice
should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the above contents. Suzanne disclaims all liability
and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

3. C O O K I E P O L I C YC O O K I E P O L I C Y
T E R M S O F U S ET E R M S O F U S E
P R I V A C Y P O L I C YP R I V A C Y P O L I C Y
First Name * Email *
If you found this post helpful, you might want to subscribe for my special updates that will be emailed straight to your
inbox and will keep you on track with all of your legal affairs (yes, even those ones you don’t realise you have…) Just pop
your name and email address in the boxes below and we will help you to stay safe in your business and sleep easy at
night.
Thisentry wasposted on Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 at 10:49 am and isfiled under Branding, General Posts. You can follow any responsesto thisentry
through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both commentsand pingsare currently closed.
SUBSCRIBESUBSCRIBE
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com