Trademarks are at the heart of every business

Brands and trademarks are at the heart of every business, and are amongst a company's most valuable assets. A brand or trade mark is the principal means by which a company can distinguish its goods or services from those of its competitors, develop its own unique 'brand image' and build up brand loyalty amongst consumers. Yet recent research suggests that some 80% of small and medium sized businesses fail to register their trademarks, the majority saying the reason for this was that they felt it wasn't important to their business, with others citing lack of time, lack of understanding of how to do go about it, or cost.

Of more concern, perhaps, is the number of business who feels that trade mark registration is not important to their business. By failing to register their trademarks, these businesses are not only potentially damaging their brands and reputation, but also putting their businesses at risk. Many businesses mistakenly believe that, by registering their name/trade mark as a company name or domain name, this gives them the right to use that name and to prevent third parties from using the same name or a closely similar name. However, this is simply not the case and, until a name is registered as a trade mark, you cannot be certain that it belongs to you. If another person or business registers the mark (or one very similar to it) first, you may well find yourself in the highly inconvenient and very costly position of becoming embroiled in litigation and, potentially, having to withdraw your products, redesign your packaging and marketing literature, and pay damages or an account of profits to the registered trade mark owner. Besides the quantifiable costs, you could also risk any goodwill that you may have established in the brand/name over the years. Trade mark registrations are also valuable, transferable assets, which can be used as negotiating tools in business transactions and as security for financial transactions.