Companies House registration is no guarantee of a trade mark registration

It is a common misconception that an acceptance of a business name by Companies House means that business is automatically entitled to register that business name as a trade mark.

Companies House are the body in the UK which regulate the incorporation of companies. It is their job to ensure that businesses are not all registered with the same name. This would of course cause confusion and could present problems as the businesses trade.

However, just because Companies House has accepted your business name and has implied there are no other businesses using that name, this does not mean the trade mark is yours.

Many trade marks that are registered do not include their business name. Businesses protect a number of things including business strapline, product names, smaller areas of their business or phrases used as part of their business.

Therefore, the acceptance by Companies House is in no way confirmation of a plain sailing trade mark application. There is no link between the Register of Companies and the Trade Mark Register.

You therefore need to complete a full trade mark search for the UK and EU. The Trademarkroom team have years of experience in completing such searches and will provide you will a full analysis of the results and a report on the registrability of your proposed mark, for a very competitive fixed fee of £100 plus VAT. We also offer a free basic search but would always recommend the full search if you want a clearer picture of your position.

It is crucial that you complete this search before submitting any application as you are likely to fail in your application and lose the money you have put into it, if the mark is opposed by an existing mark owner.

Contact The Trademarkroom team today to get started with your search and the protection of your brand.

By Ellis Sweetenham