WE NEED ABSOLUTELY NO REGULATION
(capitalization for attention, emphasis and... unarguable finality).
Regulation and authority are actually bad. They serve no other purpose than to give a limited few who are not necessarily well-versed on actual historical usage of arms an exclusive ability to literally wreck heraldry over time for everyone subject to their "jurisdictions." All it takes is one small misinterpretation by some so-called "authority" about every fifty or so years to end up turning heraldry into a joke (and subsequently killing it) after only a couple of centuries. If you lock down the market by imposing authority on it, only bad things can happen... and competing improvements (based on more accurate interpretations) will be selected against.
Originally, in the 12th century, heraldry and devices were NOT "regulated" ...they were simply a naturally emergent tool for recognition of fighting men on the battle/tournament fields. As well they were "ownership" recognition (and a means of passing that heritance through signet rings and such). For a population which largely could not read or write, the design composition was literally a "signature" of it's bearer and anyone who needed such cognizance to conduct affairs (commoners & burghers on up) would assume and use such if they needed to.
Heralds' jobs were to identify who was who for their masters & patrons, not to tell people what they could or couldn't do. They were servants to nobles and kings specializing in sorting out their lords' subjects, peers and opponents. To a degree the heralds naturally collaborated, but in England, the unfortunate precedent of "governance" of the art eventually took hold... it's not a noble thing to emulate.
Regarding the supposed need for "protection" of arms from usurpation. Many advise trademarking. Registering of trademarks, that's for "business" products and services, not for "people" (or, arguably, the legal fiction of corporate persons themselves). Thus, it's no protection at all and by my reckoning also misuse (of the already abused industry) of intellectual property laws.
The best thing one can do is simply establish usage of arms (and if desired, file them with some registry, but that is absolutely NOT necessary). If any other arms (within a region) ever end up to conflict with one's own, then seek to establish whose are preeminent (by date of assumption, grant, etc.) and the bearer of more recent creation do the honorable thing and assume some form of difference or additionment. If two parties aren't willing to cooperate on this then, it's not that big of a deal. If they have enough notoriety, the community at large will judge (and possibly shun violators of honor).
