Rainey Collins Lawyers

How to easily get some protection for your catchy business name and logo

By Olivia Porter, Monday, 28 February, 2011, Business, Company, Copyright, Intellectual Property

Does your business have a catchy name and/or clearly identifiable logo?  If you haven’t registered it as a trademark, this could happen to you …

Bill started a very successful retail business and as a result of a quality product, memorable logo and significant exposure in the market, people very quickly learned about Bill’s business and recognised his logo when they saw it. 

Shortly after starting his business, a competitor entered the market and began operating under a different business name but using a company logo that so closely resembled Bill’s that it began to cause confusion amongst his target market.

Bill attempted to stop his competitor from using the similar logo but because he hadn’t registered his logo as a trademark he found that he didn’t automatically have exclusive use of it, nor the ability to easily prevent a competitor using a very similar mark.

He had other options to try to stop his competitor using the similar logo but they required him to go to court, and relied on the courts recognising “goodwill” in his business.  Goodwill generally equates to an established reputation, so for someone with a new business like Bill it can be hard to establish.  Also, even if yours is a long-established business, think about how hard it might be to provide tangible evidence of something as intangible as reputation.

The important point is that there’s no need to leave it to the courts at all when you can greatly improve the situation Bill found himself in by registering either or both your company name and logo on-line for $115.00 each. 

Compare that to the cost of litigation and you’d be wise to get on to it today!  If your business is worth running, then your company name or logo is worth protecting.

Email: oporter@raineycollins.co.nz or phone: (04) 473 6850.

Call us Toll Free on 0800 733 424