Joined: 12/March/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 5
QuoteReplyTopic: Securing Online Business & Business Names Posted: 12/March/2010 at 23:49
Hello,
Firstly thanks for providing this website and secondly thanks in advance for any information provided.
Situation I run a profitable website, the name of the site is of the utmost importance and i would like to secure it, preventing anyone else infringing on it or in same way lawfully acquiring the name off me.
I have read many documents, however i am hoping someone is able to tie it all in together for me here. As i said the name is the most important element of my online business, currently i am running my website with an ABN and nothing else, i am looking to ensure the name of the site remains property of myself ( Sole Trader ) as it is critical to my businesses identity. I have looked into Business Names, Trademarks and Creating a Company. However i really am not aware what will be best, the revenue i receive is small so i believe the costs involved with setting up a company and managing it in terms of ongoing costs makes it unfeasible.
Does registering a Business Name in New South Wales mean my business name is protected nationally ?
Would registering a Trademark of my Business Name, protect me Nationally and Globally if approved.
The websites domain is Australian ( .com.au, .com and .net.au ).
Advice on the best way to proceed would be greatly appreciated.
Registering a business name and registering a trademark provides a degree of protection. However should someone infringe this you have to go after them and institute court proceedings against them. In the on-line world this is complicated because the person could be anywhere.
I am NOT a lawyer. Anything said is NOT legal advice.
A Business Name registration is solely in the State in which you register it, that is the role of the respective Office of Fair Trading but does NOT give you a claim to the Business name across Australia.
@Lionheart, that is the conclusion i came to as well. Subsequently i was thinking a Trademark might be the better solution, as for court proceedings, well i guess a registered and active Trademark might see people avoid names infringing on mine.
Is there any other pathways i should consider ?
I am considering buying any domains that are possible variants of my site as well and using them ass addon domains so that they also collect traffic.
Nothing to do with your original question, but as far as domain name go do not go down that crazy path and have a long name eg www.michaelsbakeryonfourthstreetbendigo.com.au
I see so many businesses doing this these days and in the IT world this is defiantly a no no. The longer the name the more chance of someone mistyping it, and you losing business.
I am NOT a lawyer. Anything said is NOT legal advice.
Trademark the name if you can financially justify it but if your trading is going to be mostly online it needs to be identifiable as such. Many Large companies have trademarks associated with their name or products but the object of any business is to make money and part of that is to minimise costs. It has been a long held opinion of mine where possible to name your company/business so that it is easily identifieable with what you do.
In addition, if you only intend to register and operate in Australia I do not neccessarily see a need to trademark your business name. Your registered Name is already protected. What are your thoughts behind trademarking your name.
@MartinO - i am a software engineer and do some part time work with web development and seo, i am not one for long descriptive urls. My current URLs are all the same, with .com .net.au and .com.au extensions. The name is punchy and easily identifiable with the product.
@Lionheart, the cost is a factor and i am finding it troubling to get a price on registering a trademark, i am aware of the legal work behind it and was under the impression that having a registered pty ltd company may help in this regard. I am getting deeper into the web work these days and have several smaller enterprises and future projects to be completed. I was thinking that registering a company might help me incorporate all those smaller businesses into one larger company. Helping me with taxation and also the protection of content and keeping any future trademarks tied to the one entity.
The reason i am considering registering the TM is simply because my site links in with international tourism quite heavily and its something i really was not targeting. It is international in the sense that 50% of the traffic is local whilst the other 50% is coming in from oversea's customers. I do not sell raw products as such, more information and community, social networking for a specific sport. It is a neiche at the moment that i can see long term growth in. I further see the ability to network similar sights in such a way that they are provided by one company with a common directive for all enterprises created under the company. My aim is to build a trusted brand, i am on the way well and truly and am more concerned at the moment with getting the foundations right for projected growth and expansion in the next 3 - 5 years.
Should i be speaking with a Business Advisor of some sort before going down the track in terms of legal advice. I am aware this is not sound advice here and i would engage a solicitor prior to any action.
Clearly then Dane the limiting factor in Trademarking your new programs as you develope them will be exhorbinant on the International arena but from what you say I would think you would gain a certain amount of protection from how you operate. You need confidentiality agreements with user sites you operate with. Im not sure a Business Advisor will be able to tell you more than I could dependent on his/her qualifications however a Copyright Lawyer would as $400 per hour so if you are going to go for one of them have a brief written of what you need prior to seeing them. I went to a copyright lawyer years ago he wasnt able to tell me anything I didnt know and then spent 50 minutes of the the first hour trying to fix his colour photocopier and charged me $300 for it......
Yea its getting the point where i think i will have to seriously consider professional advice, all the reading concerning the way to structure my businesses has probably confused me in many respects. Currently i am at the turning point, either I invest and move further into the market or i sit back and do the minimal amount. It is something I am currently grappling with, I have come to an interim determination that firstly i must streamline and compound exactly what it is i need, once i am happy with the direction and effective parameters of the enterprise i will then consult with a business advisor spexing in the area of my business, then based on advice prosecute the recommendations to the full extent.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration Lionheart
Sounds to me like you should be registering a trade mark in your key markets (ie countries). A business name or company registration does not give you any enforceable rights against third parties who use a similar name. Registering a TM is deceptively simple. Registering the right TM and getting the specification right is worth paying for.
Defensive domain name registration is also a good strategy.
As to this comment: "It has been a long held opinion of mine where possible to name your company/business so that it is easily identifieable with what you do." This is a commonly held view, but generally is a poor strategy for building a strong brand because it is harder to protect a descriptive brand. If you knew nothing about what Google did, could you work it out from their brand? What about Apple? Or Skype? I think not, which is what makes those brands so distinctive and recognisable, and hence valuable because that is the purpose of a brand.
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