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As a small business owner working hard to build your brand’s reputation, protecting your intellectual property is essential. Once your business is established, customers return and recommend it to others. They will recognise your business’ unique branding. Registering your trade mark is an excellent way to protect the elements that distinguish your brand and prevent others from misusing them. This article will explore the benefits of registering a trade mark and how the registration process works.
What is a Trade Mark?
A trade mark is a unique identifier of a brand. Most businesses have some form of a trade mark, but not all are registered and protected.
When you register a trade mark, you gain the exclusive right to use it and can prevent others from using it without your permission. Registration helps to protect your brand and ensure that your trade marks are only associated with your business.
For small business owners, registering a trade mark is often a case of weighing up the potential benefits of brand protection with the effort and cost of registration. The following sections of this article will explain the benefits and costs of trade mark registration.
Benefits of Registering Your Business’ Trade Marks
1. Legal Protection
Simply registering your business’ name with Companies House is insufficient and does not protect it from misuse by others. However, trade mark registration would provide this protection.
A registered trade mark protects your brand by giving you exclusive rights over it. This prevents others from using it without permission and can help maintain your business’ integrity and reputation.
You may seek legal action if an unauthorised party uses your trade mark. Registering your business’ logo, for example, ensures that only your business can use it. Exclusive rights mean that other parties cannot impersonate your business.
2. Trade Marks Are Assets
A trade mark can be a valuable asset that you may sell or use as collateral for loans, providing a potential source of future revenue or finance. If you plan to sell your business in the future, having a registered trade mark can increase the value of your brand and make it more attractive to potential buyers.
LegalVision’s Trade Mark Essentials Guide provides valuable information for any business looking to register or enforce a trade mark.
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The Cost of Registration
The cost of applying to register a trade mark online is £170. When you apply, you will pick a classification you want your trade mark to apply to. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) categorises different kinds of goods and services into classifications.
For instance, if your business makes cosmetics, you would choose class 3, ‘cosmetics and cleaning’, to protect your trade mark in the cosmetic-making industry. Each additional class you select costs a further £50. You may include extra classes if you plan to expand your goods or services offering into a new area or want more extensive brand protection.
How Do I Register a Trade Mark?
You may apply to register a trade mark with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). It must be unique and cannot be:
- offensive;
- common; or
- misleading.
Before completing your application, decide which classes you intend to register your trade mark. Following this, search the IPO database to ensure no similar trade marks already exist. If a similar trade mark is already registered, you should seek advice and return to the drawing board to develop a new one. You can submit your online application if there are no similar trade marks.
Key Takeaways
A trade mark is a representation of your brand that sets it apart from others in the market. It may be a logo, a slogan, or a combination of both. The registration process requires that trade marks are unique and not already used by another. By registering your trade mark, you can prevent others from using it without your permission and legally protect your brand’s identity.
No matter its size, brand reputation is your business’ most valuable asset. Customers can easily recognise your brand through its trade marks, meaning your reputation ties in with your identity. For this reason, you should protect the elements that uniquely identify your brand. Trade marks can also be valuable assets in themselves. Owning your business’ trade marks can increase its value upon sale and make it more attractive to potential buyers.
A lawyer can help your business establish its intellectual property rights. If you are a small business or startup owner who needs advice on intellectual property registration, our experienced startup lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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