UK Patent Office Says Businesses Don't Protect IP

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

30 August 2005

Growing businesses are failing to protect their company name adequately, according to a survey issued last week by the UK Patent Office.

More than 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises have not registered the name of their business as a trade mark. Of the entrepreneurs surveyed, 55% believe that they have protected their name enough, 44% think that they do not have enough protection and the remainder do not know. Many mistakenly believe that registering their name at Companies House alone is enough. The research was conducted as part of the Patent Office’s intellectual property awareness campaign for businesses called "What is the Key?"

Lawrence Smith-Higgins who runs the campaign says: "It is essential to protect the name that you trade under as a registered trade mark. This gives you exclusive rights to use that name in your business area. Companies are potentially putting themselves at risk of legal action from another company if they haven’t checked whether their name already belongs to someone else. It’s not a risk worth taking."

The "What is the Key?" campaign for growing businesses from the Patent Office, the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents and Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, highlights how businesses can benefit from their intellectual property rights.

Recommended