Business Names
Commercial Considerations in naming a business:
Will the name reflect the individuals involved, the product/services or both?
Will the name reflect existing goodwill in a name (non-tangible value that an existing
name has with customers)
How will the name fit into the existing market
How will the business protect the IP (intellectual property) in the name - trademarks,
domain name etc.
Avoiding Intellectual Property Infringement etc
If a business chooses a name, logo etc that is similar to or the same as
another business, particularly if both businesses sell the same goods/services and
operate in the same geographical area this could infringe intellectual property
registered trademark infringement or passing off.
Businesses will want their own distinctive brand it's hard to create goodwill if it's
difficult to distinguish businesses.
Searches must be carried out to check what businesses already exist:
o Registered trademark search at IPO
o Google search
o Yellow pages
o Companies House name search
Protecting the name/brand
You can protect your name and brand even if you aren't operating as a company
Register a trademark (name and lor logo)
Register a domain name
Incorporate a company with that name to prevent others doing so only if no other
company has that name
Passing off can be used to enforce unregistered trademark rights prevents one
person from misrepresenting their goods/services as that of another benefitting
from another's goods or services. Passing off is a tort.
o Requires goodwill, misrepresentation and damage.
o Claimant’s (C) business must have goodwill, D (defendant) must have
accidentally or purposely passed off their goods/services as Cs and C must
have suffered damage as a result of the misrepresentation
o Reclutt v Coleman Products Ltd v Borden.Inc (1990)
involved a competitor selling lemon juice passing off applies to
packaging as well
Trademarks
A business may want to obtain further protection from others using its trademark(s)
by registering them.
A registered trademark gives more protection than an unregistered trademark for
which only a passing off claim can be brought
Commercial Considerations in naming a business:
Will the name reflect the individuals involved, the product/services or both?
Will the name reflect existing goodwill in a name (non-tangible value that an existing
name has with customers)
How will the name fit into the existing market
How will the business protect the IP (intellectual property) in the name - trademarks,
domain name etc.
Avoiding Intellectual Property Infringement etc
If a business chooses a name, logo etc that is similar to or the same as
another business, particularly if both businesses sell the same goods/services and
operate in the same geographical area this could infringe intellectual property
registered trademark infringement or passing off.
Businesses will want their own distinctive brand it's hard to create goodwill if it's
difficult to distinguish businesses.
Searches must be carried out to check what businesses already exist:
o Registered trademark search at IPO
o Google search
o Yellow pages
o Companies House name search
Protecting the name/brand
You can protect your name and brand even if you aren't operating as a company
Register a trademark (name and lor logo)
Register a domain name
Incorporate a company with that name to prevent others doing so only if no other
company has that name
Passing off can be used to enforce unregistered trademark rights prevents one
person from misrepresenting their goods/services as that of another benefitting
from another's goods or services. Passing off is a tort.
o Requires goodwill, misrepresentation and damage.
o Claimant’s (C) business must have goodwill, D (defendant) must have
accidentally or purposely passed off their goods/services as Cs and C must
have suffered damage as a result of the misrepresentation
o Reclutt v Coleman Products Ltd v Borden.Inc (1990)
involved a competitor selling lemon juice passing off applies to
packaging as well
Trademarks
A business may want to obtain further protection from others using its trademark(s)
by registering them.
A registered trademark gives more protection than an unregistered trademark for
which only a passing off claim can be brought
