Can I trademark my name?

Can you trademark a personal name? The answer is yes! 

Without much effort, you can probably think of fashion designers, celebrities and social media influencers who use their personal names as brand names and have protected them with trademark registrations.

If you have a successful online persona or if you provide products or services under  your own name,  then you should make sure  you have exclusive rights to use your name for those products or services by trademarking your name.

Are you a social media influencer on a channel like YouTube? Perhaps you are an artist, designer, marketing specialist or a rising start in the entertainment world? Are you an Instagram influencer, a political commentator, business coach or health guru?

A trademark is a distinguishing sign (such as your name) that identifies your business. It helps your customers and followers to recognise your products and services in the marketplace. You can legally protect your brand by registering a trademark.

The personal names of many well-known Kiwis are registered as trademarks, such as Edmund Hillary, Peter Gordon, Brooke Fraser, Kate Sylvester and Kathryn Wilson, to name a few.

Many influencers are also registering trademarks for their nicknames or social media handles, such as Shannon Harris, an influencer in the NZ beauty industry who has trademarked her brand SHAANXO.

Anyone who is using their personal name or a social media handle to grow a following or to build a business should prioritise trademarking their name. This is vital if you intend to sell branded merchandise or license other businesses to use your name (eg. endorsements).

Can I trademark my personal name?

Yes! The legal definition of a trademark in New Zealand specifically allows for personal names to be registered as trademarks. 

To register your personal name as a trademark, the Trademark Office may ask you to provide:

Consent to registration from the actual person whose name it is;

• If the person has died, consent to registration from their estate; or

• Confirmation that the name is a made-up name

These are generally easily dealt with, and the rules are simply intended to protect anyone, but especially well-known people, from having their names trademarked by someone else.  Imagine, for example, if someone started selling a food range, named after TV chef Chelsea Winter, without her permission!

What if my name is already registered as a trademark?

Should you find that someone else has already registered a trademark for your personal name, the Trade Marks Act provides that you can still use your name for other goods or services, different from those for which the trademark is registered on condition that it does not deceive or create any confusion for consumers.

Since personal names are often not unique to one individual, it may pay to choose an original name or nickname for your online persona and brand. The top-ranking YouTube gaming personality, PewDiePie, is a good example of an influencer who chose a one-of-a-kind, made-up name for his online persona and business.

Read What makes a trademark distinctive for tips to create a powerful brand name.

How to trademark a personal name or social media handle

If you have already established your personal name as a brand, you should hurry to protect it with a trademark registration.

1. Register as early as possible

The sooner you establish legal proof that you have rights to a name in trade, the better.
A trademark registration can be used as evidence against anyone who tries to copy you or piggyback on your success.

In a trademark dispute against Kylie Jenner, Aussie celebrity, Kylie Minogue produced evidence that she had built up a significant prior reputation in the name “Kylie”.

She filed a notice of opposition to Jenner’s application for the trademark “Kylie” citing possible confusion and "damage" to her branding and her opposition succeeded.

Helen Clark

Here in New Zealand, former prime minister, Helen Clark, had to take legal action to prevent someone else from registering her nickname, “Aunty Helen” as a trademark for a clothing brand.

As these examples demonstrate, you’d be wise to register trademarks for your name, nickname or social media handle as soon as possible.

2. Apply for trademarks in all the categories you intend using

To ensure the broadest possible protection, you should be strategic and register your trademark for all the products and services you’ll use it for now and in the future.

For example, Shannon Harris has trademarked her name SHAANXO for a range of products and services such as:

Class 3 - cosmetics and skincare preparations
Class 35 - advertising promotions and retail services
Class 41 - production of webcasts and videos

Many successful influencers expand their product range to include promotional goods and ‘merch’. So you should think carefully about what you might produce or endorse in future to ensure you have the necessary trademark protection.

3. Get it done “lightning-fast” with Trademarks Online

Like most bureaucratic processes, applying for a trademark can be complex.

To reduce the red-tape, our legal-tech experts created Trademarks Online. Submitting your online trademark application is a quick 5-minute process, using our streamlined 3-step process.

Our artificially intelligent software developed and trained by trademark professionals, empowers you to quickly select the most relevant products and services for your business and streamlines the application process.

Once you have completed your trademark application online using Trademarks Online, we’ll email you your receipt and confirmation of your trademark application. From there on, we’ll take care of everything and email you updates at each stage of the trademark process.

We take pride in helping kiwi businesses and individuals successfully register trademarks.