The Importance of a Registered Trade Mark

A trade mark is an important asset for any company.  Registering a trade mark for your business name will provide you with a monopoly right to use the mark in respect of the goods and services you register it against, i.e. financial services, legal services etc.  A registered trade mark also gives you the right to stop third parties from registered identical or similar marks in identical or similar classes of goods and services which your mark is registered against.  As you can see, a trade mark will be a valuable tool for not only deterring and enforcing your rights against third party infringers, but also allows you to expand your brand portfolio, which can add significant value to the business.

There are a number of different trade marks you can register.  You can register your business name and your business logo (amongst others).  You can also register shapes, colour marks but we will not focus on those in the article.  A word mark would give your business name a broader protection, whereas your business logo will be a more limited protection in respect of that particular figurative logo.  Nevertheless, each trade mark will add identifiable value to your business.  For instance, if you ever came to sell your business in the future, potential new buyers will want to ensure the brand is protected whilst being able to continue to use the business name.  A registered trade mark can hold significant value and much like any tangible assets, it can be bought, sold, licenced etc.

Please remember, not all business names may be registerable.  There are circumstances where there may already be similar or identical trade marks on the register, or your business name is not capable of registration.  It is always beneficial to do clearance searches to become aware of any identical or similar marks already on the register prior to making an application.  Clearance searches can be a valuable tool to preemptively determine the likelihood that your application will proceed smoothly to registration without hitting any speed bumps along the way.