Registered at companies house does not equal trademark. Confused?

Many people believe registering the company name gives them the rights to trade with the name

It does not.

A common belief is that registering a company name at Companies House automatically provides you with the rights to trade with that name and that trademark protection has been acquired – it hasn’t!  

There is often a ‘race’ to register a company name, but  Companies House will only stop you if you are registering a name identical to an existing registration, and very importantly will not check the trademark register to see if it is available.

There is a chance that if you register a company name and go to market under that name that you will be infringing the trademark rights of another business, that is unless you do a pretty thorough search online first.

Infringing the trademark rights can be an issue especially if you have invested in developing a brand or product name and you then have to unwind and start the naming process again. Better therefore to check beforehand.

If you register a trademark at the UKIPO they will notify you if someone else is seeking to register the same or similar name. Companies House will not do this.

I would always recommend that alongside the name creation process you always do a thorough business intellectual property clearance search using Google, domain names, websites, social media and at the intellectual property office(s).

Then once you have found a name go about your domain, social media, companies house and trademark registrations at the same time so as to avoid somebody else picking up on your name and taking a shine to it.

Having checked the name at the intellectual property office trademark registration is generally recommended. When a trademark is registered it will provide you with the rights to use the name and prevent others from using the same or closely related names in relation to the same or similar goods and services.

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For over 20 years I have been helping business to Win With IP: Using intellectual property to protect ideas, creations, inventions, and competitive advantage.
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