Once you’ve chosen a name for your business, its important to move quickly and secure the rights and protections you’ll need to make sure that name is legally yours and is protected from any other parties coming in and trying to take it (this sounds malicious but can end being a problem later on).
Register the Business Name
The most common way for small businesses and start-ups to protect their business name is to form a limited company. Limited companies are ideal if you want to start a business with a friend or a group of friends as the company structure will clearly set out who owns what and who does what, up front. That way, when your idea turns out to be worth millions of pounds, you know who’s going to benefit. It also limits your personal liability if things go wrong.
A major benefit of a limited company is that once the name is lodged at Companies House, nobody else can register it. Similarly, if someone else has already registered a name, you can’t have it. You will, therefore, need to check the name you hasn’t already been taken and isn’t too similar to any other company name. Just because a name isn’t being used, doesn’t mean you can register it.
Sole Traders
The type of business you create will affect what you can call it and what rights you have to use that name. Different formations have different rules for what their names can be. The majority of businesses in the UK (over 60%) are sole traders. Being a sole trader is perfect if you’re going to be working on your own and you’re just getting started. It is the easiest way to start doing business, and it’s free to set-up. As sole traders do not register their name on any formal list, the only way to enforce their right to use a sole trader business name is to try to take competitors to court. It is therefore not a particularly effective way of building and protecting your new brand.
Buy the Domain Name/s
Always buy both dot com and dot co.uk endings for your domains names even if you don’t think you need them. One day you might, particularly if you expand your business overseas and want your business to look global rather than UK-based.
At the very least it stops anyone else buying them and either trading off or wrecking the reputation you have established. If the dot com ending has gone, don’t be tempted to just buy the dot co.uk and use that – keeping going until you find a name which still has both free.
When you find a name that you like which fits all the above criteria, you need to register your business name by incorporating your business. You can either do this yourself online at Companies House for a fee, or you can do it with the help of an accountant or a formation agent – there is a list of agents on the Companies House website.
Register Your Trademarks
You need to check that there isn’t a business you’ve never heard of that has already registered trademarks with the name you want to use.
To check if a name might be trademarked, you can start with some internet searching, do a search on the IPO website, and if in doubt pay an intellectual property specialist to do comprehensive a search for you.
Protect your Brand
Branding isn’t a one-off event- your brand needs to be continually protected. Take out trademarks to safeguard your brand name, logo and tagline. You can also use trademarks to protect phrases and groups of words that you use as part of your brand. You can apply for trademarks online via the Intellectual Property Office website.
Protect designs associated with your business by registering them under UK Design Protection, again through the Intellectual Property Office. Make sure you continually monitor your brand identity to ensure that it remains relevant. Remember that brands can be tweaked and refreshed along the way.
