Your company’s trademark can be one of its key assets, helping to retain and attract customer loyalty while creating added value for your brand. While you are not legally obliged to register your trademark, it makes sense to do so in order to protect your company.
What Are Unregistered Trademark Rights?
Unregistered trademark rights, or the “law of passing-off” exists in the UK, but it takes many years before you can build up a strong enough reputation to acquire those rights. In order to take advantage of this law, you would also be required to prove not only that your competitor has misrepresented their services and goods for yours but also that you have incurred harm to your business due to this misrepresentation. Needless to say, this can be expensive and time-consuming.
Where Do Unregistered Trademark Rights Apply?
Unregistered trademark rights only exist within the area of the country in which you have built up your brand’s reputation. Therefore, if your company only operates in the North of England, for example, it is unlikely that you would be able to take any action against somebody who operates in the South.
The Benefits Of Trademark Registration
When you register your trademark, you can take advantage of numerous benefits. You will be protecting your company’s reputation and ensuring that customers do not associate you with another party’s inferior products and services. You will also find it cheaper and simpler to take legal action if another party uses your trademark in such a way that has a negative impact on your business.
Registering your trademark also gives you more control over how a third party can use your trademark and enables the expansion of your company into new business areas or territories without the risk of infringing any other company trademark. Furthermore, your trademark can be a very valuable asset that can boost your business’s value to any potential investor or purchaser.
For more information or for expert advice on business or personal legal issues, contact us at info@carterbond.co.uk or email us at www.carterbond.co.uk or call us on 020 3475 6751.
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