Dear Andrew,

Thanks so much for this website – I have followed your advice for some time now, purchased your Easy Auction Business guide and all I can say is - AMAZING! What I value most is your time, hence – this website is invaluable for people like me, still learning all this stuff.

My question today is about Trade Marks – if I come up with a good name for my company, should I register a Trade Mark for it?

Is it easy to do? How much does it cost?

Best Regards,
Timothy, UK

Dear Timothy,

Thanks for your question.

Yes, you should definitely register a trade mark, mainly to protect your name/brand being used by someone else. If you do not register a Trade Mark someone else in fact could register it and you would loose your business.

I would simply recommend you to take a look at Intellectual Property Office website, they have some really good guides published there and they explain in detail how the whole process works.

You can apply for a Trade Mark online, saving both time and money. Feel free to call IPO directly and ask any questions you may have. I just recently registered yet another Trade Mark and people at IPO were very helpful.

Cost wise – if you apply online, it will cost you £170 for a Trade Mark registered in one class of goods or services. Each additional class is £50.

If you plan to do business outside of UK, it would be a good idea to register additional Trade Marks in your target countries. As this one, you’ll register in the UK, will only work in UK.

There are companies out there offering EU packages, you’ll have to do your own research to find best deal. But remember, when you register a UK trade mark, you automatically get 6 MONTHS protection within EU for that trade mark. So you can register UK trade mark at the moment and in 6 months time see whatever you need to extend your protection or not.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,
Andrew

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