Article by Robert Green, Business Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre

Now You Have Your Name

Now that you have your name, it is time to protect it.  Just having and registered a business name these days is not enough. If you are going to work hard on and in your business and build its brand and reputation, the last thing you want is for someone come along and steal it.

How? Unfortunately, we live in an increasing dishonest and unscrupulous world. There are those who will use devious measures to divert business from you, mimic your business or downright steal your clients. Your first vulnerable point will be your domain name and IP address.  You have probably gone out and got hold of the .com.au version of your address, but there are others.  Depending upon your online reach you need to obtain and park all the other available addresses such as .com; .net; .biz; .info with and without the additional .au extension. A practical example of this is a business that only registered the .com.au domain name.

When the business became successful, it noticed its online sales were beginning to decline.  Acting on the suggestion to enter their domain name plus the .biz extension and see what came up the client discovered that a black screen came up with the message that the site was under construction and that the link should be clicked on to take the viewer to the old website.  The “old” website was the online store of a competitor.

Additionally, you are going to be working hard on establishing your brand in the market.  If you have a logo or originally developed symbology you should be taking steps to protect them.  You can do this through IP Australia. If the process is seems too complex for you, consider using a reputable IP/Patents lawyer to help you.