Legal branding concerns your name and visual identity, such as your logo.  If you do nothing else make a point of having a trade mark search to check you may use your chosen name or logo.  Your primary brand is your trading name and Registering a trade mark will give you solid ownership rights in the name.

Trademarks are the intellectual property rights that protect business or product names.  It is not possible to have copyright in a word.  Logos and other aspects of your visual identity can also be protected with trademarks, but in addition you may register them as Designs, and you also automatically get some Copyright protection.

Business or Product Names

Domain and company names may be available to register, but your use or potential use of them may infringe someone else's trade mark rights.  If it does, the owner of that trade mark could apply to have your registrations cancelled.  Therefore, a trademark search is essential before you proceed to use a name.

Trade marks are registered against classifications.  This means that more than one business may own rights in exactly the same name.  So, if they do not compete or overlap with each other, brand names such as POLO can (and do) belong to several different trade mark owners. 

Check the classes that could apply to your business.  You will need this information to work out in which classes to search and register your trademark.

If you want to also protect your visual brand using a design registration is recommended in the early years.  You could then trademark the logo once you are fully established.  Of course, if you have the resources you could register your logo both as a Design and as a Trade Mark immediately.

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