You’ve finished your new business idea, got the name and a great logo, designed a new way to do something, maybe even the domain name which is just right and now you want to stop others using it. Copyright may help. But there are other methods.
Here are just three possible methods of protection.
Trademarks
A trademark is any sign, which can distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another. A sign includes, for example, words, logos, pictures, or a combination of these. Hoover ™ is an extreme example.
Basically, a trademark is a thing which tells people who you are and/or what you do. It can be registered or unregistered. If not registered all you can do if people copy it or use it in a way you don’t like is pursue them for what is called "passing off". We use the word "only" but being sued for passing off is a very, very unpleasant experience. The offending person’s business gets effectively stopped for a while, an injunction is often granted stopping what
