Protect Your Business

Trade Mark Direct share their top tips to ensure you are up to date with your trade mark rights.

1. Registering your company or product name with Companies House or owning the website address does not give you any trade mark rights. The only way to be certain of trade mark protection is to get the name registered at the Intellectual Property Office.

2. Do your homework. Check that the name you want can be registered as a trade mark at www.trademarkdirect.co.uk, that it's available for use at Companies House, and whether the internet domain name has already been taken.

3. Avoid being too literal or descriptive with your company or product name. Names such as Designer Leather Bags won't be accepted, nor will misspelt words such as Letha Bagz.

4. You can't register a trade mark that includes a famous name or brand, for example Mike's Armani Shop.

5. Adding .com or .co.uk or ltd to a name that is otherwise identical to a registered trade mark makes no difference, you can't use or register it.

6. Choosing made up names is one of the easiest ways to a successful trade mark application. It's one of the reasons brand names such as Viagra, Accenture and Yakult come about.

7. If another company has already registered the name you want, you may still be able to register it if your products or services are different. For advice call Trade Mark Direct on 0845 680 9762.

8. Research your classes. Two companies can own the same trade mark as long as they are registered for different products. To make sense of what products are similar the trade mark registries operate a system of classes. You may need to register your trade mark under more than one of these, for example if you provide catering services (class 43) as well as cleaning services (class 37). Get advice from Trade Mark Direct on your registration.

9. Be thorough. A registered trade mark lasts for ten years before renewal fees are due, and once it's registered you cannot increase the scope. So if you currently only sell clothing but are harbouring a desire to expand to make-up, then it's worth applying for that class, otherwise you have to start and fund a second application from scratch.

10. Don't delay your application. Too many businesses put it off until too late when someone else has already registered the company or product name they have been using. They then have to rebrand and start trading under a new name, which can be a very costly process.

11. When applying for a trade mark, it's also a good idea to think about the long-term plans for your business, for example, do you plan to expand oversees? If so a Community Trade Mark covers all 25 EU countries, including of course the UK, although it's about triple the UK price.

12. The DIY approach to registering your trade mark may seem like the most cost-effective route, but any mistakes made in the complex and time consuming process will result in your application being rejected. Almost half of direct applications to the Intellectual Property Office fail (figures from 1998-2005) and its fees are non-refundable. Trade Mark Direct not only has a success rate of 94% but its low, fixed fees are only payable for successful applications.

For more information on how to apply for a trade mark go to www.trademarkdirect.co.uk