By On Your Terms for Hnry
On Your Terms makes legals easy for Kiwi businesses and sole traders. Safeguard your services for less, with its online legal documents and tools. All drafted by experienced NZ lawyers, and customised for you.
You’re quite proud of your clever trading name. You’re also loving your logo. But most importantly, you know your clients are starting to recognise them both and associate them with your services. The last thing you want is someone else using them and squandering the goodwill you’ve built up, or confusing your potential clients.
So how do you legally prevent another business using your name or logo? Let’s talk legal brand protection, and why it’s so important.
- How do you stop others using your name or logo?
- How do you register a trade mark?
- What are the benefits of a trade mark?
- The tl;dr of trade marks
- Hnry makes sole trading easier
How do you stop others using your name or logo?
The best way to stop others in your industry from using your name, logo, or anything else that identifies you and your services, is to register a trade mark. By doing so, your clients will associate your name and logo with you and your services only, protecting the value of your brand.
It’s also possible to gain rights in a trade mark over time by using the name or logo (i.e., in branding and marketing for your service) for long enough to develop a reputation in the market. However, whether or not you’ve established this reputation, and obtained enough goodwill to enforce the trade mark, can be difficult to prove (there’s no fixed number of sales or supporting customer testimonials you need). Therefore registering your trade mark is the best way to clearly establish your rights.
How do you register a trade mark?
To register a trade mark in New Zealand, you need to apply to the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office (IPONZ).
Here are some things you should keep in mind when choosing your business or trading name to increase the likelihood of IPONZ accepting your trade mark application:
- the name can’t be the same or similar to a trade mark already used by someone else in your industry; and
- it must be distinctive – it can’t describe goods or services in your industry – so if you provide website design services, you won’t be able to register ‘Designs for You’. And if you sell fruit and veggies you can’t register ‘Broccoli Buddies’. BUT a website designer could (in theory) register ‘Broccoli Buddies’ (hence Apple is allowed for a tech company, but wouldn’t be if they actually sold apples!)
In New Zealand, you can use ONEcheck to search for existing trade marks, domain names, and social media usernames to help you choose something original.
Once you’ve chosen your name, logo or other design, you can apply on the IPONZ website to register your trade mark. You can also request a lawyer to register it for you (and they can give you advice on whether it is likely to be accepted) or use one of the available online services.
IPONZ charges $100 plus GST per class to register a trade mark. It takes at least six months to process your application and it will only be granted if the criteria (above) are met. A trade mark registration in NZ lasts for 10 years, and can be renewed for successive 10 year periods.
Trade marks are registered separately in different countries. So, registering one in NZ will only protect your name/logo in NZ. If you also want to sell products or services overseas, and stop businesses or traders in other countries from using your same or a similar name, you’ll need to register your name/logo in those countries as well.
What are the benefits of a trade mark?
Registering a trade mark with IPONZ gives you exclusive rights to use the name (or logo etc) for the category of products or services you register it in. This means another business or person can’t use the same or a similar name in relation to the same type of products or services (note - another business could potentially use the same or a similar name, and register a trade mark, in relation to different products or services).
This allows you to build a recognized brand to encourage potential customers to purchase from you.
If someone does copy your registered trade mark in relation to the same or similar products or services you can bring a legal claim against them. Certain social media and domain name registrar, as well as Google, also have their own complaint processes which can be used if someone is using a word you’ve trade marked in their advertising.
You can also sell or licence your trade mark to others, which can act as a potential revenue source.
Tl;dr
In New Zealand, to obtain exclusive rights to a name or logo you need to register your trade mark with IPONZ. A registered trade mark helps stop another business from using the same or a similar word or logo for similar products or services to yours, and, therefore, protects the value of your services.
Hnry makes sole trading easier
Hnry is an award-winning tax and financial administration service for sole traders. For just 1% +GST of your self-employed income, we will completely sort out your:
We also file your annual tax returns, as part of the service. And on top of all this, our app has an invoicing feature that helps you create, send, and manage invoices. No extra software required.
Whether you’re just starting out, or an industry veteran, Hnry is designed for all sole traders. We make sure that you never know the horror of an unpaid tax bill – ever. And that’s a big deal, believe us.
Start your sole trader journey off on the right foot, and join Hnry today.
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