Trademarks

Also read: Patents | Copyrights

You need to make your product or business stand out from all others, quality of your service or products need to be easily recognized. You can help distinguish your business by using such trademarks as symbols, logos, brand names signs or sounds. They need to be different from any other businesses registered trade marks.

What is a Trademark

If you register your trade mark you add protection for your business as common law rights can be insufficient. Misuse of your trademark could affect your business adversely.
Registering a Trade Mark is expensive but it can be worth doing, should anyone wish to infringe it you can take court action against them in order to seek any damages incurred. You should be aware that you have to prove that they have been passing off, and obtaining business off your back which is not easy.
For more information on Trade Marks see the Patent Office website.
You can also benefit from licensing or selling your trade mark.

How to register a trade mark

To register a trade mark in the UK you have to apply to the Patent Office by completing form TM3. A fee will also be required.
You should check to see if your Trade Mark is available, has anybody applied for the same trade mark as yours. Is there a very similar trade mark to yours selling the same service or products. You can pay for help in researching this field. Make sure you list all the goods and services you want your trade mark to cover, as you can't add any later.
Once examined The Patent Office will publish it in Trade Marks Journal. If no one contends your trade mark it will be registered 3 months later. A Trade Mark is registered for ten years and can be renewed after that period.
Find out more from the trade marks search and advisory service on the Patent Office website.

To register your trade mark aboard you will have to contact national, international organizations; it would be advisable to seek legal advice first.
To give you protection in countries belonging to the European Union you could apply a community trade mark. You will need to contact the Office for Harmonization, which can be found by referring to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market website.
Registering trade marks overseas can be complicated and it's a good idea to get help from a qualified trade mark attorney or patent agent.

If your trade mark is registered you can automatically sue anyone who uses it for the products or services for which you registered it. This is known as infringement. The court could award you costs and damages. The court can put a restraining order on the offending business.
If someone is already using a trade mark unregistered they can still claim a right to it in common law. You can find a patent agent on the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents website.

Trade marks and domain names

You could find it beneficial to your business to register a domain name which incorporates the trade mark you have. By including your trade mark or business name in your website address you make it easier for people to find, associate and recognize your business and its brands.
You should again check to see if anyone else has already registered the domain name you wish to have, as it may not be available.
If you believe that someone is using their domain name to enable them to pass off their products or services as yours then you may be able to take legal action.

If you wish to dispute a domain name ending with ".uk", then you should contact Nominet which is the body that deals with domain registry disputes and resolutions for the UK.
More information can be found if you go to the Nominet website.