Companies should ensure they take all necessary steps to protect their business name, it has been suggested.
According to public advice service Business Link, an organization’s name is the most basic intellectual property (IP) asset it owns – and potentially the most important.
“Your business’ reputation is tied up with its name so you don’t want somebody else trading on it,” the service explained, highlighting the importance of trademark protection.
“If the name of your business is distinctive to the goods and services you provide, you may be able to take legal action against anyone using it in the same or a similar field.”
Business Link explained that having a trademark does not give companies an automatic right to domain names incorporating the mark.
However, legal action is a possibility if someone is using a domain name to misrepresent goods and services, or they have taken out a domain simply to sell it back to the trademark holder.