The Trade Marks Register
Historically, the Registrar kept a big book in which all relevant details of the trade marks that were awaiting, and had been granted, registration would be recorded. In other words, the marks were ‘registered’ — meaning they had been recorded in that book, the register. The purpose was to have a government record of all trade marks for which people had applied for, and obtained registration, so that any member of the public could check whether a mark had been taken — and by whom. This check would confirm whether a particular mark was available for use. Nowadays, the Register is an electronic database, but its principles are the same.