Myth Buster 1: Does MCA Registration Protect Your Brand Name?

Most founders assume that MCA Registration protects their brand name too. It doesn't — and the gap between the two can leave your business name legally unprotected.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 are handled by two completely different government bodies, under two different laws. The MCA usually checks that your company name isn't identical to another registered company. It doesn't carry out a thorough trademark search. 

This means you could register your company perfectly fine, build your brand for two years, and then get a legal notice because someone else already owns the trademark for that name in your industry. This happens more often than you imagine and unwinding it once you've built brand equity is far more painful than checking it upfront.

If your business name matters to you, treat it as 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨: register the Company, and separately, file for the trademark.

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