INTRODUCTION
When we start a business, we must decide, amongst other aspects, how we want to make ourselves known in the relevant market. This decision includes the corporate name to be given to the company (if applicable), the trademark under which the products and / or services shall be promoted, and the internet domain name under which the corporate web page shall be launched, which is a fundamentally important element in today’s business world.
At first glance, such a decision seems to depend only upon our own criteria and creativity, and in turn, it is common to be conditioned by the name or the design used to identify activities undertaken in the past, whether they are of economic importance or not, or which are being developed simultaneously in other countries.
Regardless of the above, special attention should be paid to other factors, whose non observance may mean an important loss of time, effort, money and reputation in the market in the medium or long term.
Although when initiating a project economic recourses may be tight, they should not be spared when taking into account the following aspects, due to the negative consequences which may arise:
1.- CORPORATE NAME
If we decide to undertake our economic activity through a company, which is an option which brings with it a lot of security and other advantages, the availability of the intended “name” should be checked. This minor procedure is carried out with the Central Companies Registry in Madrid, which, when the chosen company name is available, reserves the proposed name for a period of six months.
2.- TRADEMARK
Today, a considerable part of the value of a business is not made up of tangible elements, as with a workshop or a property, but with intangible elements such as the trademarks by which the consumers and users of our products and services recognise us in the market.
Because of this, it is important that from the start, we protect, by way of the registration of a trademark, the distinctive sign which shall identify us in the market, which in this way ensures:
(i) that no third party may use our trademark or any similar trademark,
(ii) that the trademark which we use does not violate the rights of an existing trademark belonging to a third party.
The trademark, which we design, may appear to us to be original or unique. However, the entrepreneur is not usually aware of the criteria which are applied to judge the existence of a similarity between two trademarks, and hence, the possible risk of confusion among the consumer public. It is for this reason, that we recommend advice from a professional who knows said criteria, in order to guarantee what is set forth in sections (i) and (ii) above, and to avoid having to face a claim pursuant to which it may be necessary to compensate a third party for damages, as well as to withdraw the trademark from the market, which would entail an important loss of reputation, not to mention the effort and resources invested in the trademark.
3.- INTERNET DOMAIN
Although this may seem to be of lesser importance, large companies have paid out real fortunes for a domain name owned by a third party, making registration costs astronomical. This is due to the importance of holding a domain name similar to our trademark by which consumers and users shall look us up on the internet.
This is why in the initial phases of our project, it is important to check the availability of the domain name which should fit in with the trademark under which we wish to undertake our business activity.
CONCLUSION
With the employment of little time and resources, we can mark a “clean” beginning for our business (corporate name = trademark = internet domain), which shall guarantee that all efforts, good work and quality in the execution of our business activity shall be added to the value of our trademark and company in general. It will also guarantee that in the future, we are not deprived of the right to make use of our trademark or internet domain under which the consumer public shall look us up in the internet.
Vilá Abogados
For more information, please contact:
3rd December 2014
