Legality of using business name already in use?
Posted on January 10th, 2010 by admin
I want to set up an etsy shop and website to sell my artwork.
The name I want to use for the shop is already being used by some business in Wales. I have no idea what type of business it is, but it must be very small because they seem to have no website of their own – I just found just one reference to them on an online business directory.
What do you think? Would it be stupid for me to go ahead and use the name? Or OK since they don’t do business online and seem to be a small operation? I’m hanging on to hope here (took me forever to find a name I liked)….
Would the fact that I’m in a different country make a difference?
I’m not in the UK. This other business is in the UK. Does that matter?
Previous answers are rubbish – there is no need to "register" any business name.
If you are a limited company the company must be registered and the company name must be different from all other company names. For this reason the official name of a lot of companies can be quite random. There are also some other restrictions such as the name not being misleading or offensive.
If a limited company chooses to trade under a different name to their official name, or if a self employed person chooses to trade under a name other than their actual name, then they must choose a "business name". There is no requirement to register the name, but there are similar restriction to company names.
There is no specific restriction on using a business name that is the same as another business name. However, you do need to be aware of trade marks or passing off. The requirements for both a similar – if another business that operates in a similar field to you and operates in a similar geographic region to you has a similar name then you might be guilty of passing yourself off as them – ie consumers might assume you are the same business.
So if the business in Wales is not selling artwork there can be no confusion and you are OK. If you don’t operate in Wales there can be no confusion and you are OK. This is a judgement call that you have to make. But don’t abandon your chosen name just because you have a suspicion that another business in another part of the country has the same name.
January 10th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
I looked into this a couple of years ago.
If they have not registered the name then you can use it.
Check with companies house or any other business registration centre you can think of.
Also check if the website domain name is available e.g http://www.etsy.co.uk
Good luck with the business!
References :
January 10th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
it’s not a good idea as they may well get a website in future and you’d only complicate things and possibly miss online traffic that was meant for you, and goes to them
To be honest if they are a registered business, no matter how small, they could sue you as its always up to you as a new business to check your name is unique
Not having a website does not mean they are small, lots of big businesses don’t have websites – yet
as they choose not to sell online , meantime
We have a small business and checked UK wide for the same or similar names,
before we went ahead to register our business
References :
small business owner
January 11th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Well, you could just go ahead and use the name and hope for the best. The drawback to this is if they have registered their name, they can file a lawsuit against you (worst case scenario, but could happen). I would check the name with all possible registries before deciding to use it. If you still want to use the name and it is registered, alter the spelling of it so you are not in violation.
References :
January 11th, 2010 at 12:24 am
Previous answers are rubbish – there is no need to "register" any business name.
If you are a limited company the company must be registered and the company name must be different from all other company names. For this reason the official name of a lot of companies can be quite random. There are also some other restrictions such as the name not being misleading or offensive.
If a limited company chooses to trade under a different name to their official name, or if a self employed person chooses to trade under a name other than their actual name, then they must choose a "business name". There is no requirement to register the name, but there are similar restriction to company names.
There is no specific restriction on using a business name that is the same as another business name. However, you do need to be aware of trade marks or passing off. The requirements for both a similar – if another business that operates in a similar field to you and operates in a similar geographic region to you has a similar name then you might be guilty of passing yourself off as them – ie consumers might assume you are the same business.
So if the business in Wales is not selling artwork there can be no confusion and you are OK. If you don’t operate in Wales there can be no confusion and you are OK. This is a judgement call that you have to make. But don’t abandon your chosen name just because you have a suspicion that another business in another part of the country has the same name.
References :