Why it was no compliment to Judith After 3 years of trading the business was financially starting to get some traction in the marketplace. Her customer base had grown exponentially in the last year compared to the previous 2 years and Judith could now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The risk now was that existing customers may mistakenly telephone this new company, looking for her. The unique identity of her brand had been tarnished. That immediately devalued her business.
Her business lost value overnight When you sell a business a significant part of its assets is its goodwill. Goodwill represents the relationship your business has with its customers. You can't see goodwill like you can see office furniture, but it does have a value. Your brand and identity is the physical representation of that goodwill. That's why businesses go to the expense of trademarking their brand name and logo.
A trademark application gives you exclusive use to that name and design and makes it much easier for you to stop another business using a name or logo which is similar.
Judith didn't have trademark protection Unfortunately, Judith didn't have trademark protection for her name or logo. That meant she couldn't rely on the trademark infringement procedures to stop the other company in their tracks. Instead, her only remedy was to bring court proceedings for "passing off", which is a claim you can make in the regular courts. However, she was advised that this would be a long and costly process. She didn't have the funds to commit to protracted and expensive litigation.
She couldn't file a trademark application either Faced with the prospect of expensive litigation, Judith investigated filing her trademark application. That was when the news got worse. Her rival company had already filed their application and had it accepted. Challenging that registration now would involve further expense with no guarantee of success. She had very few options left.
Judith only had one real option The only option left to Judith was to re-brand her business. That would entail:
1. Design of a new logo and mark.
2. Registration of a new domain name.
3. Throwing away all existing pre-printed marketing material.
4. Getting new business cards, stationery and promotional literature.
The cost wasn't cheap, but was less expensive than litigation. It was almost like starting out all over again, except this time Judith was going to do it properly.
The three steps to take when choosing your trading name The first thing most businesses do when they choose their trading name is to search the Companies Register to see whether the name they want is available. However that is probably the least important thing to do, since your company name is irrelevant. It is your trading name that matters as far as goodwill is concerned and that can be completely different to your company name.
The second thing most businesses do is check the availability of the domain name they want. This is important since an increasing amount of business is either being transacted online or being driven by an online presence. If you don't have a memorable domain name, you could be missing out on valuable business.
The third step (and one which a lot of businesses forget) is to check the IPONZ Trademark Register. This can be done by going to www.iponz.govt.nz. If there is a similar name already registered in the same class that you want, then think again about your name. If you are considering trading abroad you may also want to check the trademark registries of the other countries in which you envisage you will have a trading presence in the future.
Judith wasn't going to make the same mistake twice Judith neglected to search the IPONZ Register the first time around. This time she wasn't going to make the same mistake. From her list of 4 possible names she found 1 that checked out under each of the 3 criteria.
Three important checks every business owner should make before choosing their trading name - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Smyth's Website.
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Michael Smyth
(Visit Michael's Website)
Six years old sounds a peculiar time to
start to legal career, but that's the
first memory I have of going to my Dad's
law firm located in the heart of legal
London. So, with law running in the
family, the natural choice at University
was a law degree. I also had a keen
interest in Sports Law and obtained a Post
Graduate Certificate in the subject from
Kings College London.
I came to New Zealand for a year, but like
a lot of people I quite liked the place,
and I'm still here practising law as a
self employed barrister and running three
businesses: Approachable Lawyer,
Sportscounsel and The Sports Risk
Management Group (the last two even allow
me to combine my passion for law with my
passion for sport).
So in my 11 or so years of practice I have
read numerous cases, helped many clients
out of the mire and set up a number of
businesses. That means not only am I a
lawyer with an expertise in employment and
sport, but I am also a businessman. This
gives me a good insight into a number of
problems my clients face. I also like to
pride myself on my approachability - But
don't take my word for it, visit my
website www.approachablelawyer.com/pro
file.htm
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About a year ago I cited a study showing the weak -- okay, nonexistent -- connection between wealth and intelligence.
