Legal advice on branding your salon

James Knight, solicitor and managing partner of London-based law firm Lawyers Direct, sets the record straight on all the legalities surrounding rebranding. So if you are about to create a brand for your salon or are considering rebranding be sure to read his business advice first. What are the main considerations when a salon is rebranding? The main thing is that you need to avoid breaching another company's trademark. In law there is something called 'passing off'. This is designed to stop someone naming their business the same as an existing company, so as to confuse the customer. Even if there was no intention to confuse the customer, passing off can still happen. For example, if a salon opens in the same town as Tiffany & Co jewellers and calls itself the same name, it is acceptable, but if another jeweller opens and calls itself Tiffany & Co, it is not acceptable. How can you find out if a name is registered? It is much easier these days because of the internet. If someone is interested in a name they should first do an internet search against that name and narrow the search to salons. This can be done on various search engines. Next, they would need to conduct a search of the trademark register. This can be done online at http://www.ipo.gov.uk It's very important to make sure that even if you don't find anything from your initial searches on the internet, that someone has not registered a trademark in hairdressing in the name that you want. Once you have chosen a name it is important to register it as a trademark. If you don't someone else may register it and could tell you to stop using it. There are often salons with the same name, so when is it acceptable to use the same name as another salon? This is very difficult to define. If a trademark is not registered then the issue of geographics comes into play. For example, if there is a salon in Glasgow with the same name that you want to call your salon in London, then it is usually not a problem. As you have to physically go and visit a salon, it makes it slightly easier to apply this law, unlike a website, for example, whereby you don't have to physically go to the shop. So is there a rule to specify how far away from each other the businesses need to be before it is acceptable to have the same name? No, it is really a matter of the circumstances. You might have two villages that are geographically near each other but have businesses with the same name, but because they are in different places it is okay. On the other hand, you might have two salons in London that are geographically the same distance apart as the two villages, but it could be very confusing to the public as they are both classed as London salons. It's a case by case point, but it is best to not restrict your market. Aside from the salon name, what are the other legal issues to consider? The logo. This can be trademarked separately to the name. It is a matter of judgement to avoid adopting a logo that is similar to another and the passing off rule applies in exactly the same way. What about website names? With domain names there is little to say, except that from a practical perspective you should search the internet to see if the name you want for your website is taken. Do you have to legally notify anyone that you have changed your company name, even if it's only a slight change? The company itself is actually a company number, not the name, and legally you don't have to change your name. A business can trade under a different name to its company name. To register your name you need to contact Companies House. Is it worth using a legal expert when rebranding? It can be. A trademark and patent attorney will be able to access the availability of a name for you, which is particularly worthwhile if you are looking at opening salons on a global scale.