Trademark and Domain Name Protection
In choosing your domain name, you should also check the corresponding trademark protection. Trade on the Internet is subject to the same trademark rules as conventional trading. You should, therefore:
Carry out a trademark search for existing registrations which you might infringe or which may block your own trademark registration.
Register your own trademark to stop infringements of your mark and to guarantee you do not infringe any existing trademark rights.
The domain name registration, rather like company name registration, only permits you to use the name as a domain name exactly as it is registered. If the domain name is commercially used, this may infringe an existing trademark registration depending on the goods or services concerned. Also, similar domain names may be registered by other companies which they may use to provide products or services which compete with yours.
Registered trademarks give protection against the use of all similar marks which may be confused with the registered trademark.
Trademark registrations are limited to and specific to the class of goods or services which you are providing. Trademark registrations are also limited by country although, in the UK, you can obtain protection either by a Community Trademark Registration or a United Kingdom Trademark Registration.
As a first step, we recommend carrying out a trademark search to establish if there are any existing registrations which you might infringe and which may block your own registration of a trademark.
Our charge for carrying out a trademark search, covering the UK, CTM and international registries is £150 per mark. Send us an e-mail with your trade mark and the goods and/or services of interest for us to carry out a trademark search. email us