Names, trademarks, patents and other registrations

Busi­ness names, trade­marks, patents and reg­is­tra­tions are vital con­sid­er­a­tions for start-ups – Rus­sell & Rus­sell can advise busi­ness­es in the Lanark­shire area.

Choosing a business name

Your busi­ness name is an ide­al start­ing-point for build­ing a brand, which can help you to forge a strong iden­ti­ty in the mar­ket­place.

You might want to draw up a short­list of sev­er­al pos­si­ble names. Before set­tling on your first choice, you should check your ideas on inter­net search engines, in local tele­phone direc­to­ries and trade jour­nals, and with the Trade Marks Reg­is­ter, in order to ascer­tain whether any­body else is already using the same or a very sim­i­lar name.

Con­duct­ing such checks could help you to avoid legal dis­putes lat­er on.

It is rec­om­mend­ed that you take legal advice before using your new busi­ness name, as there are laws gov­ern­ing the use of cer­tain words and expres­sions, and the dis­clo­sure of details of own­er­ship.

If you are set­ting up a new com­pa­ny there are addi­tion­al rules and restric­tions which apply to the name choic­es. For exam­ple, by law near­ly all com­pa­ny names must end in either ‘Lim­it­ed’, ‘Unlim­it­ed’ or ‘Pub­lic Lim­it­ed Com­pa­ny’ (or their respec­tive abbre­vi­a­tions).

Trademarks

A trade­mark is a sign or sym­bol which clear­ly dis­tin­guish­es your goods or ser­vices from those of oth­er organ­i­sa­tions. A trade­mark can include both words and images.

Hav­ing a trade­mark means that only those licensed to do so can trade under your cho­sen sym­bol, allow­ing you to pro­tect the rep­u­ta­tion of your busi­ness and how it is per­ceived by the pub­lic. It is there­fore a valu­able mar­ket­ing tool.

Reg­is­ter­ing your trade­mark will offer you pro­tec­tion in the event that some­body else tries to use your trade­mark to pass off their goods and ser­vices, and means that you can more eas­i­ly take legal action against any­one who uses an equiv­a­lent mark on their sim­i­lar goods and ser­vices.

To reg­is­ter your trade­mark, you must send an appli­ca­tion form (and fee) to the Trade Marks Reg­istry. Once approved, your trade­mark will be record­ed on the reg­is­ter in due course.

Patents

If you want to safe­guard an inven­tion, and pre­vent oth­er par­ties from copy­ing or using it with­out your per­mis­sion, you can apply for a patent.

A patent gives the inven­tor the right to the exclu­sive use of an inven­tion, and the right to take legal action and claim dam­ages against oth­ers who infringe the inven­tion. It lasts for a max­i­mum of 20 years, and can be bought, sold, hired or licensed.

In order to qual­i­fy for a patent, an inven­tion must relate to the com­po­si­tion, con­struc­tion or man­u­fac­ture of a sub­stance, arti­cle or appa­ra­tus; or with an indus­tri­al type of process. The inven­tion must be new and inno­v­a­tive. You should avoid dis­clos­ing your inven­tion to third par­ties, or mak­ing com­mer­cial use of it, before your appli­ca­tion is made, as this could inval­i­date the process.

To obtain a patent, you must first file a full dis­clo­sure of the inven­tion with the UK Intel­lec­tu­al Prop­er­ty Office. This includes infor­ma­tion on every­thing that is need­ed to car­ry out the inven­tion. The Intel­lec­tu­al Prop­er­ty Office will car­ry out a search in order to check that the inven­tion is new and inno­v­a­tive.

The appli­ca­tion will then be pub­lished, and exam­ined in detail to deter­mine whether it meets legal and for­mal require­ments, and is tech­ni­cal­ly sound.

Any objec­tions must be over­come before a patent can be grant­ed. You will need to pay fees for pro­cess­ing your appli­ca­tion, and renew­al fees lat­er on.

A UK patent does not have effect abroad, and to obtain pro­tec­tion in oth­er coun­tries you need to first obtain clear­ance from the UK Intel­lec­tu­al Prop­er­ty Office.

Other registrations

As well as reg­is­ter­ing your busi­ness name, you will have to deter­mine whether your busi­ness needs a PAYE scheme or to be VAT reg­is­tered.

We can help with these reg­is­tra­tions.

If you are a start-up busi­ness in the Lanark­shire area, Rus­sell & Rus­sell can pro­vide advice on reg­is­tra­tions, busi­ness names and trade­marks. Con­tact us for more help.