A registered business name doesn't give you ownership of it. In Australia, the way to get exclusive rights to your brand name or logo is to register it as a trade mark with IP Australia. Copyright is different: it protects your original written, visual and creative work automatically, with no registration. But if someone else created the work for you, such as a designer or copywriter, you don't own the copyright unless it's assigned to you in writing.
Think about the parts that make up your business: your name, your tagline, your logo, the words on your website, your courses and resources. They're all intellectual property. But do they really belong to you? And what can you do if someone else starts using them?
What is a trade mark?
A trade mark is anything that distinguishes your products or services from your competitors'. It can be a word, a phrase, a logo, a letter, a number, a picture, a sound or a combination of these. It's the thing that tells your clients that an offering comes from your brand.
Does registering a business name protect it?
No. This is one of the most common misconceptions I see. Registering a business name with ASIC simply lets you trade under that name. It doesn't give you exclusive rights to it, and it won't stop someone else registering a similar name or using it as a trade mark. Registering a domain name doesn't give you ownership rights either.
The only way to get exclusive rights to use a name or logo for your goods or services across Australia is to register it as a trade mark.
Can I register my business name as a trade mark?
Not everything can be registered. A trade mark needs to be distinctive. Names that simply describe what you do, such as "Sydney Business Coaching", or that other traders would legitimately need to use, are hard to register. Invented or unusual words, like the brands we all know, are the easiest.
If you can't register your trade mark, you may still have some protection if you've built a reputation in the name and someone else's use would mislead or confuse customers. But relying on reputation is harder, slower and more expensive to enforce than a registration.
How do I register a trade mark in Australia?
Start by asking yourself how important it is to have exclusive use of the name or logo. If it's important, it's worth getting advice before you apply, because the process has some traps:
Search first. Check IP Australia's trade mark search, the business names register and domain names, to see whether anyone is already using something similar. Ideally, do this before you choose a name, not after you've built a brand around it.
Choose the right classes. Trade marks are registered for specific goods and services, grouped into 45 classes. Get this wrong and your registration may not protect what you actually do, and it can't be fixed later without a new application.
Apply with IP Australia. The application is examined, and if accepted it's advertised so others can oppose it. The process usually takes several months.
Use it and renew it. A registration lasts 10 years and can be renewed. If you don't use your trade mark, it can be removed.
Only use the ® symbol once your trade mark is registered. Using it for an unregistered trade mark is an offence. You can use ™ at any time.
What does copyright protect?
Copyright protects original works such as writing, artwork, designs, photographs, music, videos and software. In Australia, there's no registration process: copyright applies automatically as soon as the work is created in a material form, such as on paper or saved electronically.
Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. So your blog post is protected, but the topic it's about isn't.
It still pays to put a copyright notice in your website terms and on your downloadable resources, courses and other materials, so people know the work is yours and how they can and can't use it.
Who owns work I pay someone to create?
Generally, the person who creates a work owns the copyright, even if you paid for it. There are some exceptions, the main one being that an employer owns work their employees create as part of their job. But when you engage a contractor, such as a designer, photographer, copywriter or developer, they own the copyright unless it's assigned to you in writing.
That's why your contractor agreements should deal with intellectual property, either assigning it to you or giving you a licence that covers how you'll use it. Creators also have moral rights, such as the right to be credited, so your agreement should deal with those too.
If you're the creative, the same rules work in your favour: your client agreement can provide that ownership only passes once you've been paid in full.
Who owns work created with AI?
This is the question I'm asked most often about copyright now. In Australia, copyright protects works created by human authors. Content generated by an AI tool with little human input may not be protected by copyright at all, which means you may not be able to stop others using it.
The more of your own creativity you put in, by selecting, arranging, rewriting and editing, the stronger your claim to own the final work. The law here is still developing, so if AI-generated content is central to your business or your client work:
check the AI tool's terms to see who owns the output and how you can use it
don't put confidential or client information into tools that may use it for training
check the output doesn't copy someone else's work, because you can still infringe copyright with AI-generated content
be upfront with clients. If you use AI in your services, your client agreement should say so, and be careful about promising that everything you deliver is original or owned outright.
How do I protect my intellectual property?
Register your trade marks, starting with your business and key program names.
Get your contracts right. Your employment, contractor and client agreements should all say who owns the IP.
Use your website terms to protect your content and set out how people can use it.
Use confidentiality agreements when you share ideas, methods or plans before a deal is done.
Keep records of your drafts and creation dates.
Act early if someone copies your work. A well-drafted letter of demand often resolves it.
Knowing exactly what you own, and what you don't, gives you confidence in your business decisions. Finding out too late that you don't have exclusive use of something you've built your brand on can be truly heartbreaking. For a deeper dive, see The Atelier Guide to Copyright & Trademarks, or book an introduction call to talk through protecting your brand.
This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Your obligations depend on your specific circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Does registering a business name protect it?
No. Registering a business name with ASIC lets you trade under that name, but it doesn't give you exclusive rights to it. To get exclusive rights to a name or logo for your goods or services, you need to register it as a trade mark.
Do I need to register copyright in Australia?
No. Copyright applies automatically as soon as an original work is created in a material form. There's no registration system in Australia.
If I pay a designer for my logo, do I own it?
Not automatically. The designer owns the copyright unless it's assigned to you in writing. Your agreement with the designer should assign the copyright to you, or give you a licence that covers how you'll use the logo.
Can I own copyright in content created with AI?
Possibly not. In Australia, copyright protects works by human authors, so content generated by AI with little human input may not be protected. The more of your own creative input you add, the stronger your claim to own the final work.
When can I use the ® symbol?
Only once your trade mark is registered. Using ® for an unregistered trade mark is an offence. You can use ™ at any time.
