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Trade Mark DirectBrand protection made affordable

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Why can some names be registered as trade marks and not others? Don’t I ‘own’ a name if I have the domain or it’s registered as a company?

Registering a name with Companies House or owning the domain name does not give you any rights, either in obtaining a trade mark or in preventing someone else from using that name.

The first to register a name, brand or logo as a trade mark nearly always has all the rights. Consider it a small investment in your future, because if you don’t register a trade mark it can ruin your business.

We’re often asked by newspapers and TV for advice and comment on trade marks. So we’ve put together this quick guide, exclusively for registered users of Trade Mark Direct, to cover the most important questions.

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Quick guide to brand protection


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Most common misunderstanding with trade marksOnly if you have been using a name or brand for five or more years and have built up a substantial business, so millions of £s in turnover, do you have any rights through use. And proving such rights is difficult.

Many companies only think about registering their name or brand as a trade mark when it is too late. Often because someone else has and tells them to change their name or stop using a particular brand or logo. The financial cost and disruption is often considerable.

Registering brands, names and logos

Trade mark registration offers the best protection and strongest rights for a business name, brand or logo. If accepted by the UK Intellectual Property Office it remains registered for 10 years, after which you can renew so the name remains your property indefinitely.

Owning a trade mark can give you valuable rights, particularly if the application was prepared to give the widest cover. Not all applications are equally strong, you need to be sure the right desciptions are used in the right classes. For instance if you are selling music or software there are different classes for selling CDs and CD-Roms compared to downloads from the web. Expert advice can make a big difference.

These rights include• preventinguseofthenameorbrandbyothersforsimilargoodsandservices

• preventingtrademarkregistrationofsimilarnameorbrand

• licensingrights


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So a trade mark cannot be descriptive - but adding a logo to ordinary words can succeedYour trade mark needs to include words other traders in the same business do not commonly use. So if it just describes the goods and services, or is a common place name or surname and there is nothing else original or different about it, it will fail.

Choosing a name to registerA name needs to be distinctive. It cannot just describe the goods or services using the same words as other traders use. Registries protect every-day language and vocabulary so it is available for all to use. They will not grant monopoly rights in words such as geographical names, common surnames and trade expressions

My name is...HELLO!

What makes a logoIt can be a shape or drawing, but above all it needs to be distinctive for what its being used for. So a drawing of a pizza is not an original logo for a food delivery company, or a bunch of flowers for a florists. But swop them around and flowers for food delivery and pizza for a florist and you have distinctive logos for those businesses.

Misspelling a descriptive trade mark, or running words togetherUsing ‘xchange’ for exchange or ‘fone’ for phone and it will still fail, as will ‘myfavouritecafe’ or ‘sunnyholidays’

fone xchange

myfavouritecafe

SunnyHolidays


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Too similar to a registered trade mark for similar goods and services

Changing or adding a couple of letters is not usually enough. It must look, sound and be conceptually different so as only to be confusing to a ‘moron in a hurry’, or it will fail.

Adding .com, .co.uk or ltd makes no differenceThey’re ignored by the registries and give you no rights to use or prior claim. The only way to be sure of rights to a name is to be first to register it as a TM.

Using famous names or brandsInclude Abba, Versace, Postman Pat or similar and it will fail, no matter what else is in the mark. As trying to piggy back on the good will of a well known name or brand is not allowed.


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About trade mark firmsYou do not have to be a registered trade mark attorney or agent to offer trade mark advice and registration services in the UK. A number of websites are brokers who have no knowledge or understanding of trade marks but pass on enquiries to 3rd parties willing to pay the most.

Trade Mark Direct are differentAdvice and support from named expertsThere are no fees for searches so if we can’t register your name you pay us nothing. And if your application fails we’ll refund our fee.Our success rate is an exception 94%100% of our clients would recommend our service to a friend or colleague

That’s why we’re the fastest growing trade mark firm in the UK, and one of the top 4 by applications filed.

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100%Have we provided you with a high-quality service at a competitive rate?

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100%Results of all completed customer satisfaction surveys during last 6 months

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