How can I check a Copyright symbol is real?

[incrediblesulk]

A friend has chosen a business name which someone else claims copyright on:

Name Of Business©

 

How can I check if they have the copyright or have just added the © symbol? I Googled it and found a Gov site but that only lets you check TM's.

[sgtbush]

Copyright protection does not extend to titles, names, slogans or short phrases, the Copyright Office has made that much very clear. You can not copyright your name, the title of your post or any short phrase that you use to identify a work.

They need to TM it.

However art work used as part of it can be copyrighted like the art work on Starbucks coffee shops.

Ao if I opened a coffee shop caled Starbucks with a similar piece of artwork it would be trade mark infringment but a possibility of copyright on the artwork.

[incrediblesulk]

Yeah but this is a business name, you can't just go around copying business names can you.

[sgtbush]

Copyright DOES NOT extend to titles.

[BankFodder]

There is no copyright in names or titles. As you have been advised above, you would have to register it as a trademark.

 

It would help if you told us a bit more about the two businesses. Also, which name has come first. If the businesses are operating in a similar field then there could be a question of "passing off" which is where one business compete unfairly by trading on the back of goodwill which has been earned by a another business.

 

As a straight answer to your question, there is no magic in the © symbol. In any event you can't register copyright works. They simply come into being as soon as they are created. Once again, there is no copyright in mere names or titles.

[incrediblesulk]

Thanks.

There is an existing business called (for example) Help With Reading©, my friend has asked me to make him a website for his new business has the same name.

[sgtbush]

Do the two companies do a similar service? Or are their distinct differences?

[incrediblesulk]

Similar

[BazzaS]

If the two companies provide similar services, and your friend chooses a similar name, they are at risk of the other firm suing for "passing off", as others have noted.

They could sue for both damages, for their losses including any damage to their reputation, and an injunction preventing your friend continuing the passing off.

 

As others have said, the copyright only applies to e.g. artwork, not company names. The name could be trademarked (but absence of a trademark won't prevent an action for 'passing off', it would just be much easier for the other business to win in court if they had evidence of a trademark!)

[sgtbush]

Beware of passing off then.

If your just doing the website and have nothing else to do with the business then I would strongly advise your friend to choose a different name.

 

What is the nature of the business, maybe we can throw son name ideas around for you to consider

[steampowered]

You can do a search to see whether there is a registered trademark here: https://www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark

 

As others have advised, even if nothing is registered, the friend could still be sued for passing off, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_off

[BankFodder]

If your friend has an established history of trading under this name and has already acquired a certain amount of goodwill then maybe your question is worth investigating – in which case we would need to know more about his business and the other persons business.

 

If on the other hand his business is pretty new and the other business is established, then quite frankly the best thing to do is to get a new name for a peaceful life.

 

People can get very possessive about the names of their businesses – even if they haven't been trading get – maybe your friend is experiencing this as well. Passing off disputes can be bloody and can cause needless stress and expense and you never know if somebody decided to litigate over it and they one you will then be in a position where you might have to pay damages and certainly you would have to start from zero with a new name, changing the website and getting your name known by Google again.

 

It's really not worth the candle.

 

Best to get another name and then just concentrate on developing the business and making money.