The short answer
A registered trade mark gives exclusive rights to a brand name within defined classes of goods and services. Registering a company at Companies House, owning the domain or using a name on social media gives none of that. In the UK, registration is through the Intellectual Property Office under the Trade Marks Act 1994, protection runs by class rather than across the whole market, and priority generally goes to whoever filed first. The recent Australian decision in Taylor v Killer Queen LLC shows why that matters: fame in one category does not create rights in another.
The misconception that causes the problem
Company registration is not brand protection. Companies House will register a company name that infringes someone else’s trade mark, and it will register yours without conferring any right to stop a competitor using it. They are separate registers doing separate jobs.
What registration actually gives you
Exclusive rights to use the mark for the goods and services you registered it for, and the ability to stop others using an identical or confusingly similar mark in relation to those goods and services.
What it does not give you is a monopoly on the word. Protection is granular, defined by class, and two businesses can legitimately hold similar marks in different sectors. That is the single most misunderstood feature of the system, and it is exactly what the Katie Perry litigation turned on.
Registration covers more than a logo. Brand names, product lines, slogans and other identifiers can all be registered, and a business with several distinct assets often needs more than one registration.
Without registration you are left with passing off, which requires proving goodwill, a misrepresentation and damage. It is available, but it is an evidential burden and a cost that registration largely avoids.
What the Katie Perry case decided
On 11 March 2026 the High Court of Australia delivered judgment in Taylor v Killer Queen LLC [2026] HCA 5, ending a seventeen-year dispute by a 3-2 majority.
The facts are instructive because they are ordinary. Katie Jane Taylor, an Australian fashion designer born Katie Perry, began a label under that name in 2007 and registered “KATIE PERRY” as a word mark in class 25 for clothing, with a priority date of 29 September 2008. Katheryn Hudson has performed as Katy Perry since 2002 and registered “KATY PERRY” in Australia in June 2009, in classes 9 and 41 covering recorded music and entertainment, but not clothing.
When Hudson’s companies sold branded clothing on Australian tours, Taylor sued for infringement. Hudson’s side cross-claimed to have Taylor’s registration cancelled, arguing the singer’s reputation made the designer’s mark likely to deceive or cause confusion.
The trial judge found largely for Taylor. The Full Federal Court reversed and ordered her mark cancelled. The High Court reinstated the trial judge’s findings.
Why the designer won
Three points from the majority reasoning travel beyond Australia:
- Reputation is category-specific. A trade mark acquires reputation in respect of particular goods or services. The singer’s reputation in music and entertainment could not simply be extended to clothing on the basis that pop stars commonly sell merchandise.
- Personal fame is not trade mark reputation. The Full Court had wrongly conflated the two. Being famous does not generate rights across every category.
- Actual confusion matters. After roughly ten years of coexistence, and despite discovery aimed at finding it, there was not a skerrick of evidence of any confusion among the public. Long coexistence without confusion can be decisive.
Not a clean victory
The High Court remitted the matter to the Full Court on outstanding issues, including what relief is available given that Taylor waited roughly ten years after becoming aware of the infringement before commencing proceedings. Delay can survive a win on the merits and still reduce what you recover.
How the UK position differs
The case was decided under the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995, so it is persuasive illustration rather than authority here. The underlying architecture is comparable, but the detail is not, and advising a UK client from an Australian judgment would be a mistake.
In England and Wales the governing statute is the Trade Marks Act 1994. Registration is administered by the Intellectual Property Office. A mark can be opposed before registration, and after registration it can be attacked on relative grounds by an earlier rights holder, or revoked for non-use.
Two features of the UK system are worth holding onto:
- Earlier rights can defeat a registration. A registered mark is not unassailable. Someone with earlier rights, registered or unregistered, may be able to have it declared invalid.
- Use it or lose it. A mark not put to genuine use within five years of registration becomes vulnerable to revocation for the goods and services not used. Registering broadly and never trading in most of those classes is not a durable strategy.
Registration lasts ten years and can be renewed indefinitely, which makes it one of the few intellectual property rights with no natural expiry.
How UK registration works
Four stages, and the decisions that matter are taken before you file.
Clearance searching
Search the IPO register, and check Companies House and common law use, before committing to a name. The cheapest point to discover a conflict is before letterheads, signage and a domain have been paid for.
Choosing classes
Goods and services are divided into 45 classes under the Nice Classification. You register in the classes you trade in, and adding classes increases the fee. Too narrow and a competitor can operate legitimately alongside you; too broad and you carry cost for coverage you cannot sustain against a non-use challenge.
Examination and publication
The IPO examines the application and, if it passes, publishes it for opposition. Holders of earlier rights can oppose during that window, which is why a clearance search that flags a likely opponent is worth more than a fast filing.
Registration and maintenance
Once registered, the mark should be used in the form registered, for the goods and services registered, and monitored. The IPO publishes its current fee scale and timescales, and both change, so check rather than rely on a figure quoted in an article.
In practice
The two most common failures are filing after launch, when someone else may already have priority, and registering in one class while trading across several. Both are cheap to avoid at the outset and expensive to remedy afterwards.
The mistakes that cause disputes
Most trade mark problems are not caused by bad faith. They are caused by sequencing.
- Assuming company registration protects the brand. It does not, and the two registers do not talk to each other.
- Launching publicly before filing. Publicity creates the awareness that prompts a competitor to file first.
- Registering too narrowly. Protection stops at the edge of the classes registered, as the Katy Perry side discovered by not holding clothing.
- Assuming reputation beats registration. The Australian High Court has now said plainly that it does not, at least not across categories.
- Waiting for a dispute. By then the options are opposition, invalidity proceedings or rebranding, all of which cost more than filing would have.
- Sitting on an infringement. Taylor won and still faces argument about relief because of a ten-year delay.
Why this applies to law firms too
Professional services firms tend to think of trade marks as something clients need, and overlook their own exposure.
A firm’s name is its most valuable asset after its people, and increasingly it is not the only brand asset in the business. Publication names, training programmes, podcasts, conferences, software tools, client portals and sub-brands are all capable of registration, and all are capable of being taken by someone who files first.
The risk is sharpest for firms building products alongside practice. A legal tech tool launched under a name nobody cleared, promoted heavily, and then challenged eighteen months in, is an avoidable problem with an unavoidable cost. The marketing and publicity rules that govern how firms promote those assets are covered in our guide to law firm marketing and the SRA rules.
There is also a client-facing point. A firm advising SMEs on incorporation, funding or commercial contracts is well placed to ask whether the brand has been cleared and filed, and it is a question few clients will have been asked.
Before launching a brand
- Search the IPO register for identical and similar marks in your intended classes
- Check Companies House and general online use for unregistered earlier rights
- Identify every class you actually trade in, and be realistic about the ones you do not
- File before any public launch, not after the press release
- List your other brand assets: publications, products, programmes, sub-brands
- Diarise renewal, and set a reminder to review unused classes before the five-year mark
- If you discover an infringement, take advice promptly rather than monitoring it for years
Frequently asked questions
Does registering a company name protect my brand?
No. Companies House registration and trade mark registration are separate systems. A company name gives no enforceable right to stop others using the name, and Companies House may register a name that infringes an existing trade mark.
What does a UK trade mark actually protect?
The mark, for the goods and services in the classes you registered it for. Protection is granular rather than absolute, so two businesses can hold similar marks in different sectors without conflict.
What happened in the Katie Perry trade mark case?
In Taylor v Killer Queen LLC [2026] HCA 5, the High Court of Australia held by a 3-2 majority that the designer’s “KATIE PERRY” mark for clothing should stand. The singer’s reputation in music and entertainment did not extend to clothing, and there was no evidence of actual confusion after roughly a decade of coexistence.
Does a famous brand automatically beat a smaller registered one?
No. The Australian High Court held that reputation is acquired in respect of particular goods or services, and that personal fame does not automatically constitute trade mark reputation across all categories. The decision is Australian, but the principle reflects how class-based systems work generally.
What happens if I do not use my registered trade mark?
It becomes vulnerable. A mark not put to genuine use within five years of registration can be revoked for the goods and services it has not been used for, so registering broadly and trading narrowly does not hold up against a challenge.
Can I rely on passing off instead of registering?
You can, but it is harder. Passing off requires proving goodwill, a misrepresentation and damage, which is an evidential exercise that registration largely avoids. It is a fallback rather than a strategy.
How long does a UK trade mark last?
Ten years from registration, renewable indefinitely on payment of the renewal fee, subject to continued use and to any challenge by a holder of earlier rights.
The key points
- Company registration is not brand protection: separate registers, separate purposes
- Protection runs by class: reputation in one category does not create rights in another
- Priority usually decides it: filing first in the right class is worth more than being better known
- Use it or lose it: unused classes are vulnerable after five years
- Delay costs even when you win: Taylor prevailed and still faces argument on relief
The practical takeaway
Trade mark law rewards sequencing over merit. Most disputes come not from bad faith but from filing after launching, registering too narrowly, or assuming that being established in the market amounts to being protected in law.
Registering early is not premature, it is preventative. And the point applies as much to a law firm’s own publications, products and sub-brands as it does to the SME clients it advises.