I already have good names I use - can I register and protect them?

If you want to register your name as a trade mark, with the significant protections that gives you, it must not only be available, but also registrable in its own right - for example, it must be distinctive, and it must relate to particular goods or services. This is because registration means you get a virtual monopoly over the use of the name, and that is not a privilege lightly given. And if you register a European Community or other international mark, you can get protection throughout the whole of the European Union, and elsewhere.