Discussion
Just some quick advice needed. Can I register a company name without having a company or starting one? What I'm getting at is I have thought of a great company name that I may want to use in the future, I have checked on the government website an it is not in use so I want to register and protect it. I can see you can register a company for £12 but it says you need everything set up, another website says you can register it anyway. I'm confused.
I'm not sure why you'd want to register a company name - that doesn't really protect it against other people using it in the way you might think it would???
Let's assume your idea is "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT Limited" - you could register that as a company name but all that does it make sure someone else has to register their business as "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT(Norfolk) Limited"
Are you not thinking more of a trading name - which would relate more to registering a trademark (in every country you intend to trade in) than a company name??
LOADS of businesses out there trade as something like "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT" but that is just a Trading Name for "Bob Smith Enterprises" or whatever.
Thing is - no point registering a TradeMark unless you're actively using it - TradeMark (or Service Mark) protections vary depending on a number of factors including the uniqueness of the name, the market in which you trade and how actively you've used the name y'see.
The only thing I'd do if I had an amazing company name idea is try to get the domain names for it - otherwise I'd do nothing until I was ready to actually do something with it?
Happy to be proven wrong on that ofc.
Let's assume your idea is "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT Limited" - you could register that as a company name but all that does it make sure someone else has to register their business as "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT(Norfolk) Limited"
Are you not thinking more of a trading name - which would relate more to registering a trademark (in every country you intend to trade in) than a company name??
LOADS of businesses out there trade as something like "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT" but that is just a Trading Name for "Bob Smith Enterprises" or whatever.
Thing is - no point registering a TradeMark unless you're actively using it - TradeMark (or Service Mark) protections vary depending on a number of factors including the uniqueness of the name, the market in which you trade and how actively you've used the name y'see.
The only thing I'd do if I had an amazing company name idea is try to get the domain names for it - otherwise I'd do nothing until I was ready to actually do something with it?
Happy to be proven wrong on that ofc.
Thanks 405. I was thinking of protecting the name, that was my intention as I'm gobsmacked no one has thought of it yet. I would rather not come to use it in say 5 years time and find it taken and then I would have to put some silly little name on the end. As I say basically I want to put my name next to it and make it mine. It would as far as I can see NOT become a global brand therefore I'm not to concerned about protecting it in that way. As I say it's such a good name I just can't understand why nobody else has used it. I know people will say if it's that good someone else would already have it.
You could register the domains, but if you can't demonstrate that you are actively using them and someone else has the same company name and wants the domains then you might find yourself having to surrender the domain names anyway.
They've bought in measures against people who speculatively register domains then sit on them. You'd have to demonstrate you are using or have imminent plans to use the domain names or you'd be fairly open to challenge.
They've bought in measures against people who speculatively register domains then sit on them. You'd have to demonstrate you are using or have imminent plans to use the domain names or you'd be fairly open to challenge.
spookly said:
You could register the domains, but if you can't demonstrate that you are actively using them and someone else has the same company name and wants the domains then you might find yourself having to surrender the domain names anyway.
They've bought in measures against people who speculatively register domains then sit on them. You'd have to demonstrate you are using or have imminent plans to use the domain names or you'd be fairly open to challenge.
if you were to use them on an interim basis for something unrelated would that be enough to prevent a challenge? For example, register frozensausages.com, but use it to host kitten photos for a few years until you're ready to set up the business?They've bought in measures against people who speculatively register domains then sit on them. You'd have to demonstrate you are using or have imminent plans to use the domain names or you'd be fairly open to challenge.
marmitemania said:
I think it's a possibility that they will be used. Is it just the .co.uk and juist the .com I need? Or should I go for the whole lot.
DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted. 405dogvan said:
Let's assume your idea is "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT Limited" - you could register that as a company name but all that does it make sure someone else has to register their business as "CARSFORTHEPOWERFULLYBUILT(Norfolk) Limited"
https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/choos... Seems to disagree to an extent. But I suppose the crux of the matter may be whether you are actually trading or not.
My point was that the name of your company doesn't entitle you to use that name exclusively nor does it confer any protection to other people having similar names (you just can't have names which could be 'easily confused' and only within the country the registry applies to)
As for web domains - if you register PISTONHEADSIDEA.com and don't use it and someone then sets-up a business and trades under that name, they could challenge you to hand-over the name on the basis they're actually using the mark and you're not. The process involved in doing this is convoluted, horrible and totally biased towards famous people/massive corporations who would just play the "we have more lawyers" card anyway so it's not really an issue (worst case - sell them the domain for monies)
I think the key message here is...
Ideas are worthless - everyone has them but they're worthless in and of themselves.
Success lies in EXECUTION - taking an idea and making it work is where it's at - once you're up-and-running, you have some protection (although again, lots of lawyers usually wins)
Note: patents are the exception to that - you can happily troll people with patents but you cannot really do this with Company Names, Trade/Service Marks etc. because the law looks at who's USING the name rather than just who registered it.
As for web domains - if you register PISTONHEADSIDEA.com and don't use it and someone then sets-up a business and trades under that name, they could challenge you to hand-over the name on the basis they're actually using the mark and you're not. The process involved in doing this is convoluted, horrible and totally biased towards famous people/massive corporations who would just play the "we have more lawyers" card anyway so it's not really an issue (worst case - sell them the domain for monies)
I think the key message here is...
Ideas are worthless - everyone has them but they're worthless in and of themselves.
Success lies in EXECUTION - taking an idea and making it work is where it's at - once you're up-and-running, you have some protection (although again, lots of lawyers usually wins)
Note: patents are the exception to that - you can happily troll people with patents but you cannot really do this with Company Names, Trade/Service Marks etc. because the law looks at who's USING the name rather than just who registered it.
marmitemania said:
Thankyou 405. I Have taken this all on board and it has stopped me spending money I don't need to protecting something I can't or don't need to protect.
Note: I still recommend taking domain names for ideas you think you might do something with - IF they're available - because domain names are a big part of doing anything these daysI was reading C&SC in ASDA whilst awaiting Mrs 405 this week and I noticed a massive ad for some very expensive cars which lacked any useful information about them OTHER than an email address something like BIZCAR9805@YAHOO.COM. It did not make me check my accounts for the requisite millions such cars would cost as the man holding them has THAT email address?
405dogvan said:
marmitemania said:
Thankyou 405. I Have taken this all on board and it has stopped me spending money I don't need to protecting something I can't or don't need to protect.
Note: I still recommend taking domain names for ideas you think you might do something with - IF they're available - because domain names are a big part of doing anything these daysI was reading C&SC in ASDA whilst awaiting Mrs 405 this week and I noticed a massive ad for some very expensive cars which lacked any useful information about them OTHER than an email address something like BIZCAR9805@YAHOO.COM. It did not make me check my accounts for the requisite millions such cars would cost as the man holding them has THAT email address?
tbox car. When the name is searched I can use any email address once they are on the website. Or is it better to companyname@yahoo or the like? If you want real protection; get. A trademark but it's more costly than registering a company or domain name... and you have to use the mark; and maintain it.
https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmtext.htm
https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmtext.htm
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