3. Agenda
• Welcome
• Companies House – Who are we?
• The Limited Company and the Companies Act 2006
•15 minute comfort break
• How to file your information online
• Our information services
• Intellectual Property – what is this?
• Key conclusions
7. Why we do it
‘the heart of company information in the UK, recording the life
events of companies for ALL to see’
• A world class information exchange;
• Accessible, easy to use;
• Creating excellent customer experiences;
• Providing trusted information.
8. Strategic Review
• Key aim is to provide free data
• All transactions to be filed electronically in the future
• Work on improving the quality of the register
• Working with other Government departments such as HMRC
• A single route in dealing with the Government
9. All Company Types
• Private Limited Companies
• Public Limited Companies (PLC’s)
• Dormant Companies
• Limited Liability Partnerships
• Community Interest Companies
• Limited Partnerships
• Micro-Entities
13. Incorporation
• Via Formation Agents (using software
packages)
• 328,268 in 2013/2014
• 68.58% of all incorporations
• £13 fee for agents
• Competitive prices – shop around
there is a list of software
suppliers/agents on our website
14. Making Changes
Company Name
• Online option for change of name by resolution (£8 fee)
• 4 ways to change the company name (£10 fee by paper)
Memorandum of Association
• Pre-2006 Act – by resolution
• Post -2006 Act – no changes allowed
Articles of Association
• Changes/ adoption by resolution
You must file resolution and fully revised articles at Companies
House within 15 days.
15. Trading Disclosures
Company name to be displayed at:
• All places of business
• Registered Office Address
But does not apply to:
• Dormant Companies
• Primarily residential addresses
16. Trading Disclosures
All items of Business Stationery & Communications including
emails and Company Website must show:
• Company name
• Place of registration
• Registered number
• Registered office address
• Director information
• If being wound up, that fact
17. Single Alternative Inspection Location
Or known as “SAIL” applies if:-
• Your company records & registers are not kept for inspection
at the registered office address
• Only one SAIL address allowed
• Address notified on AD02
• Records & Registers at the address listed on AD03
• Also notified on annual return
• All forms involved can be filed online
19. Secretary Duties
Every Public Limited Company needs one
Private companies – it is optional
Usual duties include:
• Notifying changes
• Maintaining statutory registers
• Notifying members and auditor of meetings
• Providing copies of resolutions and agreements
• Supplying copies of company accounts
20. Director’s Responsibilities
• Accounts and Annual Returns are delivered
• Directors’ and secretaries’ details are
kept up to date
• No under 16’s appointed (except for LLP’s)
• No upper age limit
• At least 1 “natural person” appointed (except for LLP’s)
• Registered office and SAIL address is correct and operational
21. Directors Service Addresses
• Based on privacy
• Any address (not P.O.) for the public register
• Usual residential address for protected
register
• Change notice can be submitted - CH01
• Historic addresses can be “expunged” for at
risk officers
22. Annual Return
• Over 98% are now filed online
• Not the financial return
• All companies have to file one each year
• Based on your Legal Return Date
• Snapshot of the Company details at this date
• Must be filed within 28 days of this date
• £13 filing fee online (£40 for paper filing)
24. Accounts
• Some Account types can be filed online
• Companies have to file accounts each year
• Whether trading or not
• Strict filing times laid down by Parliament
• Based on your accounting reference date
• Automatic penalties for being late
• Must be in legible format – black ink please
• No filing fee
25. Accounts – Basic Elements
• Signatures (if filed on paper)
• Made up date
• Reports
• What kind of accounts are they?
• Exemption statements under Companies Act 2006
• Business Review in Directors’ Report (if applicable)
• 6.8% (181,000) rejected each year because the above is incorrect or
missing from paper accounts
• 2.1% of online accounts are rejected
26. • All companies must file accounts annually with Companies
House, even if they are Dormant
• You can now file Dormant accounts online using our template
Dormant Accounts
27. Accounting Reference Date
• Can be filed online
• Based on your incorporation date
• Usually the last day of your incorporation month
• Can be changed using form AA01
However……
• Period can be shortened without restrictions
• But can only be extended once in 5 years - unless bringing in line
with holding or subsidiary company
28. Accounts Filing Periods
Private Co - 9 months from the accounting reference date
Public Co - 6 months from the accounting reference date
New Companies 1st
Accounting Period
Private Company - 21 months from date of incorporation
Public Company - 18 months from date of incorporation
29. Late Filing Penalties
• Civil Penalty against the company
• Introduced 1 July 1992 and amended 1 February 2009
• Accounts only
• Accounts must be received by Registrar by due date
• Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running
• Appeals procedure
• Registrar has very limited discretion not to collect a penalty
30. Late Filing Penalties
Don’t Forget…
Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running.
Length of Period Private
Company
Public
Company
Not more than 1 month £150 £750
More than 1 month but not more than 3
months
£375 £1,500
More than 3 months but not more than 6
months
£750 £3,000
More than 6 months £1,500 £7,500
35. Dissolution and Voluntary Strike-off
• Straightforward procedure
• Company not traded or changed name in last 3 months
• Form DS01must be completed
• Majority of directors must authorise application
• £10 fee to pay
• Can take 6 months and is subject to third party objections
• DS02/LLDS02 withdrawal of application to strike off
• Reversible process via Restoration process
44. Keep Your Code Safe
• Make sure your code isn’t easily guessable
• Mix letters with numbers in your code
• Only share your code with trusted company personnel
• Change your code if company personnel changes
• Change your code if you think the code has been discovered
• Tell your agent before you change your code
• Use a different code for each company
• Don’t leave your code lying around
45.
46. WebFiling and PROOF Scheme
• Protected Online Filing - PROOF
• Stops the filing of certain paper forms i.e. :-
Company Officers Appointments / Terminations / Changes
Change of the registered office
Annual Return
NOTE: Accounts are not included in the scheme
• Paper forms are rejected and sent to the registered office
address
• 50-100 Corporate Identity Fraud cases per month
47.
48. Join eReminders for:
• A timely email reminder of when your accounts and annual
returns are due at Companies House.
• The option of a maximum of 4 email addresses per company.
• An alternative to paper reminder letters sent to your
registered office address
WebFiling and eReminders
63. Accounts – Joint Filing with HMRC
• HMRC – Companies House statement joined up approach to
using iXBRL and a joint template.
• What is iXBRL?
• Download PDF Template via Companies House WebFiling
and HMRC
• Submit using Accounts software packages
• Prepare once – file twice
64. Government
Gateway Credentials
HMRC Template
Download
CH WebFiling
Small Full or Abbreviated
Accounts - Input
Once Only
Select Box to Send to
Appropriate Organisation
HMRC
Accounts Filed and
Corporation Tax Filed
Companies House
Accounts Filed
Joint Filing
65. Joint Filing Benefits
• Meet two legislative obligations in one go
• Both organisations using iXBRL
• Full accounts can be filed (extract abbreviated versions)
• Built in intelligence and calculations
• Templates can be worked offline
• Latest FRSSE statements
• Email confirmation
89. Monitor
• FREE Service available via CHD and WebCHeck
• Part of the 3-point-plan to prevent corporate identity fraud
• Email alert service for documents filed by ANY company
92. Mobile App
• Launched in September 2012 – over 90,000 downloads
• Access to company details for over 3 million companies
• Available to download from the Apple App Store and Google
Play
• Free to download and provides only free information – no
hidden costs
• Allows you to check company information ‘on the go’
• Stats and our latest Tweets can also be viewed on the App
• Feedback welcome
96. Other Products
• Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI)
• Free Company Data Product
• Free Accounts Data Product
• XML Gateway
• DVD Rom
• Bespoke Products
Online User Panel
• Help us understand how you use our online services
• Your Feedback and Your experiences
• Details on our website
99. Intellectual Property Office
Executive Agency within Department of Business, Innovation
and Skills (BIS)
950+ staff based in Newport in South Wales, 20 based in
Victoria, London
Our task is to help stimulate innovation and raise the
international competitiveness of British industry through
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
100. Business investment has changed
- in UK as elsewhere
IP
Fixed Capital
£ billion
Source EU COINVEST and Haskel et al
101. Intellectual Property Office
Premier foods has sold its 200 year old Branston
brand to Japanese company Mizkan for £93 Million
The sale includes its factory in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
102. IP Baseline Survey
96% of UK businesses do not know the value of their Intellectual Property
Rights
Only 11% of UK businesses know that disclosure of an invention before
filing will invalidate a patent.
74% of UK businesses could not correctly identify the owner of copyright
when using a subcontractor
Only 4% of UK businesses have an Intellectual Property policy
103.
104. What can be registered?
Smell
Colour theme Shape theme
Domain name Slogan
Name Logo
Non-traditional Music
105. What is a Registered Trade Mark?
Any sign which is capable
of being represented graphically
Any sign which is capable of
distinguishing the goods or services
of one undertaking from another
“A Badge of Origin”
106. Unexpected marks
• Office of Government
Commerce
• £14000 to create new logo
“not inappropriate for an
organisation that’s
looking to have a firm
grip on government
spend”
OGC Spokesperson
107.
108. True or False
You cannot register a dictionary word
Changing the spelling makes it different
You do not have to use a registered trade mark
I have registered at Companies House so I own the
trade mark
109. unregistered Trade Marks
A lot of evidence must be presented,
including proof of established reputation,
confusion for consumers, and harm done
If an unregistered TM is infringed,
attack with a ‘Passing Off’ action
110. Top slogans of the century
1. Beanz Meanz Heinz
2. Just Do It
3. Does Exactly What It Says On The Tin
4. Every Little Helps
5. Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat
6. Vorsprung Durch Technik
7. It's Finger Lickin' Good
8. It's The Real Thing
Source adage.com
111. Colours as Trade Marks
- as applied to the outside of petrol filling stations
- in relation to roadside recovery services
- in relation to milk chocolate
- in relation to cat food
- in relation to baked beans
- in relation to mobile communications
113. Domain names
Trade Mark registration is not company
name or domain name registration
A domain name may be
registered as a Trade Mark
Incorporating another’s RTM into your domain
name or meta-tag may be an infringement
115. Be Inventive
Google – an intentional misspelling of googol (1 followed by 100 ‘0’s)
Blaupunkt – originally called ideal – a blue dot was attached if the
headphones came through the quality test.
LEGO – Danish “leg godt” – play well ( coincidentally “I learn” in Latin)
Starbucks - a character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick
J D Wetherspoon – from one of Tim Martin's teachers in New Zealand who
said that Martin would never make it as a businessman.
.
116. Use your name
Amstrad – Sir Alan Michael Sugar trading
B&Q – founders Block & Quayle
DHL – Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom & Robert Lynn
Hasbro - Henry & Helal Hassenfeld – Hassenfield Brothers
Mercedes – the first name of salesman Emil Jellineks daughter
Mitel – Mike & Terry’s Lawnmowers – Michael Cowpland & Terry Matthews
117. UK Applications
Fees:
Application fees: £170 – Includes one Class
Additional Classes £50 each (up to 45 Classes)
Timeline:
Examination within 2 months of filing
Registration (unopposed) in 5 months
118. Trade Mark Registration Overseas
Paris Convention - six months priority
OHIM – Community Trade Mark
e-filing fee €900
WIPO - Madrid Protocol
119.
120.
121. What Copyright protects
Books, technical reports, manuals, databases
Engineering, technical or architectural plans
Paintings, sculptures, photographs
Music, songs, plays, dramatic works
Promotional literature, advertising
Films, videos, cable or radio broadcasts
Computer software & websites
122. True or False
If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not protected
I can copy 10% without it being an infringement
If I acknowledge the original work, I can use it
I have bought the book/painting/photograph so I can use
it as I wish
123. How long does Copyright last?
Literary, musical, artistic & dramatic works:
author’s lifetime plus 70 years
Sound recordings, TV & radio broadcasts &
cable programmes: 70 years from first broadcast
Publishers’ right (typographical layout etc.):
25 years
Films: 70 years after the death of the last of:
director, composer of the score, the author of
the screenplay and the scriptwriter
124. Who owns Copyright?
Usually the first creator or author...
…or their employer if produced in the
ordinary course of their employment
However, a contractor will retain ownership
unless their contract is explicit to the contrary
Even if the creator sells their rights, they have
‘moral rights’ over how their work is used
125. Top Dead Earners 2013
2. Elvis Presley - $55m
3. Charles Shultz - $37m
4. Elizabeth Taylor - $25m
5. Bob Marley - $18m
6. Marilyn Monroe - $15m
7. John Lennon - $12m
8. Albert Einstein - $10m
9. Bettie Page - $10m
10. Theodor Geisel - $9m
Source Forbes.com
1. Michael Jackson - $160m
127. IP Healthcheck
Free online diagnosis
Patents, Trade marks,
Designs & Copyright
Licensing, exploiting &
Franchising your IP
Confidential Information
8 On line IP Healthchecks
130. Key Conclusions
• Think “e” – and enjoy the benefits now
• Filing online saves you time
• Meeting filing deadlines saves you penalties
• Up-to-date records create confidence in your company
• Our Information online can help you
• Companies House is here to help you
Web: www.companieshouse.gov.uk
131. Future Developments
• New Companies House Service
• Electronic search service for Limited Partnerships (LPs)
132. Thank you for listening!
Any Feedback?
apinnell@companieshouse.gov.uk
djohnson@companieshouse.gov.uk
133. Contact us
Telephone: 0303 1234 500
email: enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk
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