In this episode I share my experience of trademarking my business name
Resources:
youTube video https://youtu.be/gxtAZ2nyVMg?si=lIoSBUlckXWpT3X1
Find us at https://beyondthekitchentable.co.uk
Free PDF downloads: https://beyondthekitchentable.co.uk/downloads/
Blog post https://beyondthekitchentable.co.uk/business-books-to-read-this-summer
Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/beyondthekt
Hello, and welcome to episode number 105.
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:The website, coach podcast.
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:This week.
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:I'm going to talk to you about
something I haven't spoken about before.
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:And to be honest, probably never will.
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:Again.
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:Something completely different.
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:And that is trademarking
your business name.
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:Now before you think
I've changed what I do.
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:I haven't, I'm not a lawyer.
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:I'm still a website designer.
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:So please do not take
this as legal advice.
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:And in fact, if you have any queries,
then do go and talk to a lawyer.
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:But the reason I'm talking to you about
this subject this week is because I
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:have just trademark my business name.
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:Beyond the kitchen table.
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:And I've had lots of questions
from people about it.
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:So I thought it would be helpful
to talk about my experience.
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:Which let's just say was a
little bit of a roller coaster.
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:You got to listen further on
to find out what happened.
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:My application went in back in
June and it's only just come
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:through on the 30th of September.
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:It's taken three and a half months to get.
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:I'm going to share why I decided to get my
business name, trademarked the benefits.
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:If you like.
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:I'm also going to share why I
didn't do it early in my business.
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:Oh, I regret that decision.
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:The process that I went through and
the issues that I faced, as I say,
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:there was some drama along the way.
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:So, first of all, why should you
trademark, your business name?
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:Well, the first reason
is hugely important.
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:In the D legally safeguards
your business name.
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:Of course it does.
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:But your business name is
not just a catchy phrase.
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:It has value.
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:It's what you're known as you've
probably got a website in that name.
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:Social media.
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:Maybe signage business cards
or other branded merchandise.
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:You have built brand value.
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:And was that a registered trademark?
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:Somebody else could come
along and take that away.
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:Someone else could use exactly
the same business name.
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:And what's worse is
they could register it.
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:And if they trademarked it
before you trademarked yours.
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:And they could stop you using
your business name in the future.
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:Just think about that for a moment.
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:Somebody else could stop you
using your business name.
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:If you don't have it trademarked.
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:And even if they didn't trade
market, Having somebody else with the
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:same or a similar name could cause
confusion amongst your customers.
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:And indeed they could harm
your brand's reputation by
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:trademarking your business name.
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:You are shielding your business
from the worst case scenario.
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:Either having to rebrand or
alternatively having your brand
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:name trashed by somebody else.
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:And I think that's pretty powerful reason.
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:And yes, I wish I had done it earlier.
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:The second reason is it
allows you to bring action.
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:If others attempt to copy what you do.
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:In theory.
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:I know that you don't need to have
your business name, trademark to stop
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:someone passing off as your business.
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:But I do know that having gone
through trademarking, it gives
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:precisely this protection.
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:People can and probably will
attempt to copy your business.
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:Having your business named trademark.
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:Means they can't get too
close to your business name.
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:You can use the threat of legal action.
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:Many years ago, I was helping
someone set up a business with
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:a name that started with IBM.
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:It happened to be the initials of
the person running the new business.
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:As soon as we've registered the
business at company's house, we hadn't
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:even got as far as trademarking.
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:We got a strongly worded letter
from IBM, the computer giant.
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:Accusing us of attempting to pass off.
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:What we were doing has been part of IBM.
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:Now, what we were doing
was completely different.
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:But after receiving the
letter, we decided to rebrand.
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:Hello.
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:I did persuade IBM to pay for the rebrand.
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:As I told them, they didn't have a
legal standard, which is true because
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:they hadn't trademarked IBM in the
class of business that we were in.
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:Anyway.
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:Trademarking your business name
gives you this kind of legal cloud.
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:The third reason is it sends
a clear message that you are
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:serious about your business.
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:I've often said that one of the
benefits of having a website
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:is it gives you credibility.
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:It shows that you mean business.
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:I think trademarking your
business name is the next step.
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:By making the investment in
trademarking, the business name, it
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:shows that you are really serious
about making this business work.
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:You're not going to disappear quickly.
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:The fourth reason is to do with attracting
investors and going into partnerships.
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:I think if you ever want to bring
outside investment into your business
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:or indeed go into partnership
with somebody else with your name.
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:Having trademark, your business is.
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:Crucially important.
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:People are more likely to
invest in or collaborate with a
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:brand that's legally protected.
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:It protects against the
risk of having to rebrand.
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:Again, it shows that you're serious
about your business and its longevity.
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:And the fifth reason is it
gives you peace of mind.
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:And I don't think this one
should be underestimated.
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:I've been in business almost six
years as beyond the kitchen table.
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:And I've had the name
for longer than that.
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:And while it wasn't trademarked, I
was aware that somebody else could
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:come along and take that brand name.
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:And I could lose it.
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:And so just putting in the application
and getting the trademark through
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:has given me peace of mind.
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:It might sound really silly, but I'm going
to talk about what happened during the
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:three and a half months between putting
in my application and getting it approved.
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:Because until I got it back just
last week, I was worried that
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:I might lose the business name.
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:Somebody else could get their first.
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:Now that I have the
business name trademark.
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:Nobody else can take that away from me.
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:At least in the UK.
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:Trademark in the UK doesn't
cover internationally.
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:It only covers you in the UK.
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:So why didn't I do it earlier?
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:Well, when I first started out like
many businesses, I had no idea where
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:my business was going to go, or even
whether it was going to be viable,
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:whether it was still going to be
around in a couple of years time,
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:because a lot of businesses aren't.
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:And registering a trademark seemed like
an unnecessary expense at that stage.
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:I also see, I need to involve a lawyer.
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:There are plenty of lawyers who
are specialists in this area.
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:And therefore, I thought
you had to use the lawyer.
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:Um, you don't, by the way.
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:I also assumed it was
complicated and expensive.
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:And then at some point I reached the point
where I thought I really should do this.
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:Because I was worried that somebody
else could trademark the name.
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:Now I had the domain name.
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:both@dotcodotukandthe.com anyway.
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:I don't have all the social media handles.
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:That's another story.
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:But I do run a limited company.
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:And the name registered at company's
house is beyond the kitchen table limited.
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:So I knew there were barriers to
somebody else getting in there.
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:But there was still that nagging
feeling that I might have
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:an issue with somebody else.
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:But I didn't make it a priority because.
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:I assumed I'd need somebody to do it for
me, it would be complicated and expensive.
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:And I have lots of other things
today and things to invest in.
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:And I didn't get around
to it until this year.
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:So why this year.
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:Truthfully.
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:Because when I was with a group of other
entrepreneurs or business owners at a
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:business retreat in Marrakesh in March.
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:It came up.
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:And several people told
me it was really easy.
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:They were actually going to
help me walk me through it.
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:Um, other that didn't happen.
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:We got dry sidetracked on something else.
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:So how easy is it?
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:The answer is it's incredibly easy.
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:I followed a 12 minute YouTube video.
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:I'm not kidding.
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:I'm going to tell you
about that in a moment.
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:It does take awhile though.
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:As I mentioned, it took me three and
a half months between putting in the
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:application and getting it through.
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:I think that's about the
quickest that can be done.
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:It just went through the normal process.
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:When you register a trademark,
you have to choose the class.
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:And there are, I don't know
how many classes, probably a
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:hundred or something like that.
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:And the classes relate
to different industries.
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:So I chose one particular class,
which covers website design.
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:It doesn't just cover a website design.
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:It covers all sorts of
other design as well.
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:So if I wanted to use my
business name in other fields of
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:design, I can certainly do so.
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:But it doesn't stop somebody who's
doing something completely different.
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:Like for example, a restaurant.
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:Which would be in a different class.
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:It wouldn't stop a
restaurant using the name.
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:But what it means is people
who do something similar to me,
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:cannot use my business name.
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:So the first thing that you have
to do is you have to work out
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:which class you want to register.
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:You're trademarking.
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:And you can choose more than one class.
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:You just pay a bit more, depending upon
the number of classes that you choose.
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:I chose one class and
it cost me 170 pounds.
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:I can't remember the cost for each
additional class, but it's less than
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:170 pounds for additional classes.
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:And how did I do.
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:Well, as I say it didn't
take me very long at all.
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:Probably half an hour or so.
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:I followed a YouTube tutorial by
somebody called Luca Davenport.
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:I can't patch for him.
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:But the YouTube video
was really, really clear.
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:It's 12 minutes long and I put
the link to it in the show notes.
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:And I say it didn't take me much longer
than that actually filed the application.
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:It was really quick and really easy.
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:I did do one step slightly
differently to the way he instructs.
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:He suggests that when you make the
application, you do so in a way,
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:can't remember what it's called, but
you get the IPO to check it first.
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:And if they advise you that it
all looks fine, then you go ahead.
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:And if they advise you that somebody
else has registered in that class
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:with a similar name, It means
you can stop the application and
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:you don't end up paying as much.
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:But that was more expensive overall.
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:I was confident nobody else
had the same name in my class.
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:I did check.
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:So I just went for it.
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:It was very straightforward to do.
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:And I did not involve a lawyer.
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:All good, safer.
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:However, I then hit an issue.
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:I got a letter back pretty
quickly from the IPO, which is
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:who you make the application team.
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:And it said that there was another
business registered in the same
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:class as mine with a similar name.
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:And they were minded not to approve
my application for that reason.
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:Yes.
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:I was devastated when that came through.
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:I'm not going to lie.
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:And the bizarre thing is I was
aware of this other business.
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:Because they're local to me.
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:But they do something different
and then name is different.
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:Slightly different.
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:There beyond the table, whereas
I am beyond the kitchen table.
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:They teach people how to style,
dining tables, et cetera.
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:And because interior design is the
same trademark class as website design.
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:Their trademark was in the same
class as I was applying for.
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:They set up in business after me.
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:I didn't realize they
trademarked the name.
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:And yes, I was very annoyed with myself
when I realized that the fact that they
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:set up after me made no difference.
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:My fanning about delaying trademarking.
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:My business name nearly
cost me my business name.
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:No, I don't give up that easily.
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:I asked her advice in the Facebook group.
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:I'm in with other small business owners
and realized my situation was not unique.
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:There was several other business
owners who had had something similar.
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:And there were different
things that I could do.
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:I decided to write back to
the IPO and explain how our
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:businesses were very different.
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:And I didn't see why any
confusion with a car.
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:And the IPO responded as well as
publicizing application and the
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:officials, journalists, normal.
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:They would have to write
a notify beyond the table.
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:Q a couple of nervous months
to see if anybody would object.
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:Fortunately and completely coincidentally,
I hit time for my application.
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:So the notice period was
over the summer holidays.
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:And I think that's a really good
time to do it because I don't think
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:as many people are focused on it.
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:If you're up against a large
corporate with a big legal team,
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:then of course, they're going to
be receiving these kinds of notices
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:and they're going to be on the ball.
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:But I think for a lot of other
businesses, Frankly over the summer,
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:people have got so much going on.
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:The juggling so many things, and they're
probably not keeping such a close
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:eye on these kinds of notifications.
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:But I still worried.
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:I'm worried.
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:I might lose the right to use my
business name and I'm very attached
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:to beyond the kitchen table.
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:I can tell you.
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:Orientate.
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:I might have to employ an
expensive lawyer to argue my case.
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:As it happened, there was a happy ending.
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:There were no objections.
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:And the trademark came through last week.
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:I was so relieved.
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:I can tell you.
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:But yes, I kicked myself because
I wished I had done it sooner.
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:I would've saved myself a lot
of stress over the summer.
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:That's it for this week.
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:I hope you have a great week.
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:And I will see you all again next week.