If you’ve got big plans for your business, registering a trademark can be a smart way to help create a saleable asset that has more weight than just a business name registration.

It’s something you can explore from the very beginning of your start-up phase, or something you might decide to come to down the track if you decide your business is something you truly want to build and grow.

The first point of contact is a trusted Intellectual Property lawyer, and you will need a budget to fund the experience. Make sure you talk to a number of IP lawyers – although some basic costs are identical across the board, many lawyers have wildly different hourly rates, and this can impact on your budget dramatically.

Thinking about trade marking your business? Here are some tips to get you started:

Protect Your Business Name

Just because you have registered a business name and a domain address, does not mean you have exclusive trading rights or ownership of that name.

The obligation to register a business name is separate to the process of protecting any intellectual property rights in your business name or brand, such as registering a trademark.

To make sure your business name does not infringe any existing trademark that is already registered, it’s important that you do a search, using IP Australia’s Trademark Check (http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/tmcheck/).

To understand the different steps, you should take before looking into trademarks, it’s important to understand the difference between the different components of your business name.

Business names

This is the name under which your business operates and identifies the owners of your business.

Registering a business name is compulsory and has to be done before your business can trade.

Business names do not provide proprietary rights for use of the trading name – only a trademark does that.

Company name

You can register your company name with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC - http://asic.gov.au/). If you want to trade with a name different than your registered company name, you have to register that trading name as a business name. Unlike trademarks, company names do not offer proprietary rights for the use of the trading name.

Domain name

This is your website address on the internet – an important part of your online brand.

Having a domain name helps customers identify and find your brand.

To buy a .com.au or .net.au domain name, you must be a commercial entity and have either an Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Business Number (ABN).

Trademark

This is used to distinguish your goods or services from the goods and services of other traders. Obtaining an Australian trademark can give you exclusive use of the trademark throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. Basically, a trademark is the right that is granted for a letter, number, word, phrase, sound, smell, shape, logo, picture and/or aspect of packaging.  It is legally enforceable and enables you to have exclusive rights to use the name commercially, or to license and sell it for the goods and services that it is registered under.

Why trademark your name?

• Owning an Australian trademark means you may be able to stop other people using the same or a similar trademark in Australia.
• If someone does use the same or a similar version of your name / logo / phrase / packaging, you may be able to obtain compensation for unauthorised use or infringement upon your trademark.
• Trademarking your name secures your exclusive right to your name. Registering your trademark reduces the risk of being prevented from using your name or logo by any other traders.
• Down the track, if you decide to trademark overseas, having an Australian trademark is a great platform to obtain rights in other countries.
• If you discover another business encroaching on your business name and branding, having a registered trademark makes it easier and more affordable to prevent other traders from using conflicting trademarks.

For accurate information about the possibility of trademarking your business name, talk to an experienced IP lawyer.