Names Matter Now: The Legal Price of Being Yourself

Names Matter Now: The Legal Price of Being Yourself

Jo Malone built a perfume empire. Then she sold it to Estée Lauder. What she didn't sell was the right to keep using her own name. That cost her everything she built next.

The luxury sector operates on a simple principle: your name is your product. When Malone launched Jo Loves after a five-year non-compete, Estée Lauder's lawyers moved fast. The new brand couldn't use "Jo Malone" anywhere. Not on products. Not in marketing. Not even when explaining who founded it.

This isn't unusual anymore. It's standard. Sell a company bearing your name and you're selling the name too. The lawyers make sure of that.

Under Malta's Commercial Code, personal names in business carry specific protections — until you transfer them. Once transferred, they become intellectual property like any trademark. The original owner becomes a stranger to their own identity in commerce.

The EU's Trade Mark Regulation adds another layer. Personal names, once registered as trademarks, receive protection across all member states. The person behind the name has no special claim. The owner of the registration does.

Smart founders now negotiate name retention clauses before any sale. The clause specifies exactly how and where the founder can use their name post-transaction. Without it, you're licensing your identity back from the buyer — if they allow it at all.

Here's what founders miss: the negotiation happens before you need the money, not after. When you're desperate to close, name retention becomes impossible. When you have options, it's just another term sheet line item.

The pro bono angle lives in every small business owner who signs away naming rights without understanding the consequence. I've seen restaurant owners, consultants, architects — all locked out of using their own names because they treated the transfer as administrative rather than strategic.

Malta's company formation rules make this simpler to avoid than most EU jurisdictions. Reserve your personal name as a trademark before incorporating. Use a holding structure that separates the name from the operating company. Sell the operations, keep the identity.

Your move tomorrow: Before signing anything with your name on it, ask this question: "If I sell this company, can I start another one using my name?" If the answer isn't clearly yes, change the contract or walk away. Your name is the only asset you can't replace.