Have you started or are running your own business?

You’ve selected a great name for the business, registered it as a business name, completed your budgets and projections, got your premises selected, arranged signage for the front door, ordered letterhead, placed advertising in the local paper, ordered some promotional goods with your name on them, paid your lease deposit, selected staffing, arranged for equipment, and everything is ready to go.

You commence business and all of your hard work and experience and enthusiasm is really paying off. You’ve got a growing list of great clients, the staff are loving working for you, there’s lots of repeat and referral business and you’re actually making a good profit.

Then you get a letter in the mail from solicitors telling you that the name you have used is so similar to their own client’s, that people are confused between the two businesses. They want you to stop using that name immediately. Even worse, they want you to hand over all of your hard earned profits. You thought you were protected, you thought you had done everything right, you had a registered business name.

Many business owners have the misconception that a registered business name protects their intellectual property and no one can use that name or a similar name if it is registered by you. Incorrect!!!!!!

The registration of a business name ensures that no one else can register the same business name in the State for which it is registered. However, it does not protect your business from another trader registering a similar business name or using a similar logo.

Domain names registration is also an area in which business owners believe they have some protection. Like business name registration, where you have a registered domain name, this does not prevent other traders from using a similar name or registering a domain name similar to yours.

How to Protect your rights

A trade mark can be a word, number, smell, sound, colour, phrase, logo, picture, aspect of packaging or any combination thereof. It is used to distinguish the goods and/or services of one trader from another trader. A registered trade mark will give the owner proprietary rights over that trade mark and therefore a right to use it exclusively in connection with the goods and/or services in which it is registered.

A trade mark is the only item that can give you proprietary rights. This means that you own it and will have the right to sell or license it for a fee should you decide to do so. If another trader starts up a business using a trade mark that is substantially identical or deceptively similar to your registered trade mark, in a similar class of goods or services, then you may be able to sue the business for infringement of your trade mark rights.

If your trade mark is not registered, then it may be difficult or impossible to prevent others from using the same or a similar mark to the one which you use everyday in your business. If a competitor starts using your trade mark or a mark similar to yours, it will only result in confusion in the market place and it may tarnish that great reputation you created though all those years of hard work and commitment.

Trade mark registration is an easy, and a relatively inexpensive tool, which you can use to protect the intellectual property of your business. It will also give you that competitive edge to ensure that no one else uses your trade mark or a mark similar to that of yours.

If you would like further information on trade marks, or how to register a trade mark for your business, please contact Emily to see if we can assist you.

The content of this article is intended in the nature of general information, and cannot be relied upon as legal advice. You should seek specialist advice about your particular circumstances.