What is the difference between a trading name, a trademark, a registered trademark and a company name?
Trading name
A trading name is any name used by a person, company or business for trading which is not the same as their own name or official registered company name. For example: Joe Swift trading as ‘Swift Building Dreams’ or Chinese Takeaway Ltd trading as ‘Wok This Way’. A business may use as many trading names as it requires. A trading name is a name that is different to the official name of the company or the sole trader.
Trademark
A trade mark typically refers to a business name, trading name or logo that has been registered at the Intellectual Property Office as a registered trademark.
You can put “TM” next to your brand or trading name at any time without seeking permission from anyone, for example: HughesPostTM. The “TM” stands for ‘trade mark’ and simply indicates that you are claiming rights in the mark. It is usually used in connection with an unregistered mark, such as a business name, slogan or logo, but can be used next to a registered name or mark too.
Registered Trademark
A registered trademark is a brand name or business name that has definitely been registered at the Intellectual Property Office as a registered trademark.
The R in a circle “®” means it’s a registered trademark . So you think it’s a trademark and the government agrees. The government agrees that you can use certain laws and certain presumptions embedded in these laws to go after anybody who may want to steal your brand.
Company name
A company name is the official name of your company. This means the name that is registered at Companies House.
