Do I Need To Do A Trademark Registration?

Legally there is no law that requires you to register your trademark. You can go about running your business without ever having a registered trademark. It is a risky way to do business however. There is nothing protecting your trademark from someone else using it. This can be bad for business. There is nothing protecting your name if it isn't registered. A registered trademark will protect you. It gives you exclusive rights over your business name and logo.

You will file your application for trademark registration with the Intellectual Property Office. They are the people responsible for keeping track of trademarks. Your application will be accepted and you will receive a certificate at the end of two months. Other companies have the right to oppose your trademark for two months. As long as there is no opposition you will get your registered trademark.

There are rules to a trademark. There can be no offensive language or pictures displayed on your trademark. No pornography is allowed. There can be nothing illegal on your trademark. That means you cannot refer to illegal drugs on it. You cannot mislead the public with your logo or name. Do not put any untruths in your name. For example do not use the term generic if all you deal in is name brand. You cannot use a protected emblem in the name or logo. No 3 dimensional logos will be accepted. There are other laws which also apply. To find out all the rules that will affect your application you should visit the Intellectual Property Office website. They have a list of all the rules that pertain to trademarks.

Once your trademark has been registered, no other company or person can use that trademark. You have the right to sue anyone that misuses the name of your company. If someone wants to use your name or trademark they must get permission from you. Your trademark is now your property exclusively. You no longer have to worry about another company taking away your name. There was nothing protecting your name before. Now there is.

Companies become well known by their trademarks. It is part of a successful business. Your customers will learn to put the name and the good business practices together. That is why knowing no other company can use your name is such a good thing. It is good for business.

There is a fee of course but there are a couple ways of paying it. You can pay the fee all at once and save about 30 pounds or you can divide the fee into two payments for Trademark Registration. The fee is around 200 pounds and there is an additional 50 pound charge for any extra classifications. Some businesses will fit into more than one class. An example would be a service which also sells products. A carpet cleaning business may clean carpets and sell carpet cleaning supplies. This is two separate categories or classes. Each additional class will cost extra. This is a fee that is well worth the money as you will have a registered trademark after the process.