Registering a Business Name

andywozhere

I've found a business name I'd like to use, however the name is already taken. It doesn't look like however has registered it is actively using the name. On the companies registration website it says:

You should note that registration of a business name:
* does not give protection against duplication of the name;

I'm presuming this means I can use the name then even if it has been registered?

GerardKeating

andywozhere wrote: »

I've found a business name I'd like to use, however the name is already taken. It doesn't look like however has registered it is actively using the name. On the companies registration website it says:



I'm presuming this means I can use the name then even if it has been registered?

Business names can be registered multiple times, but you cannot tell from the cro site if the name is being used, could be low key.

If the other user of the name is the same business/area you might have trouble.

andywozhere

GerardKeating wrote: »

Business names can be registered multiple times, but you cannot tell from the cro site if the name is being used, could be low key.

If the other user of the name is the same business/area you might have trouble.

Thanks Gerard, they don't have a website anyway and this would be an online business... would I be in trouble due to trade mark rights or something else?

conolan

My understanding is that it'll be difficult to get the name registered with CRO if you are in teh same business UNLESS that other business is located in one palce and yours in another. Search cro.ie (there are 63 ACME business names registerd).
Different story if you want a .ie domain name. You have to have a business name registered. Don't know what they do when there are multiple business names registerd.
As for trademarks, check if one is already registered. patentsoffice.ie. Again, a name can be registered by more than one person, but depends on you classification (business type).

andywozhere

Thanks folks, I think I'm going to try and register and see what happens. As far as I can see they just registered it years ago and are not actually doing anything with the name.

edanto

Bit of a co-incidence, the same thing happened me today and I came to boards to see if there was a thread about it.

And here's your thread about the name you want registered as a Business Name by someone a long time ago and apparently out of use.

Wouldn't it be really funny if we were both going for the same name!!

How do you find out the type of business that the existing Business Name is in? In the one I'm interested in, there are no documents submitted online for me to download (cro.ie). Can I request anything from the CRO?

andywozhere

I better get down there quick on Monday morning then (and then leg it to the IEDR)!:)

as far as I can see you only have to submit account details etc with the CRO if you are registered as a company and you don't need to submit anything if you are just registering a business name.

edanto

So, you've done a bit of research on the web and think that the people that registered the Business Name you want aren't active?

Me too.

Anyways, I had a little look at the CRO search and found at least one example of two people with the same business name -

THE BLACK CAT 190505 20 BLACKMILL STREET KILKENNY Business Name
THE BLACK CAT 61532 MAIN STREET GLENGARRIFF CO CORK Business Name

One's a pub and one's a shop, no reason to think that they're connected and they're both registered separately.

I asked CRO info as well to confirm, I'll let you know what they say.

andywozhere

edanto wrote: »

So, you've done a bit of research on the web and think that the people that registered the Business Name you want aren't active?

Yes, that's about sums it up. I also figure that anyone serious about the business would also have a website.

I asked CRO info as well to confirm, I'll let you know what they say.

Great, I'd definitely be interested to hear how you get on. I'll do a bit of research myself too.

Axwell

Hi guys, as the poster above says you can register a business no matter who else has it as its just a trading name, if however you register a company such as a ltd company then there can only be on name. As regards web domains its first come first served and you have to show the iedr that you have a right to the name in the case of a .ie. A registered business number is enough to suffice as long as the business name and domain name are related. For this reason when registering a business name it is just as important to check that the domain name you want is free as much as it is picking a name you like. If the domain is gone there isnt anything you can do about it so you are best to use the lookup on the iedr www.iedr.ie website and make sure the domian isnt registered or in use.

conolan

Axwell wrote: »

Hi guys, as the poster above says you can register a business no matter who else has it as its just a trading name,

Mea culpa. This from CRO

The CRO does not check proposed business names against names on the registers of companies or business names. It is advisable, therefore, to investigate the possibility of others having rights in the name which it is proposed to use before incurring expenditure on business stationery, etc.

oli26

As someone else mentionned you can register the same business name several times. however, particularly with domain names you should consider that if someone trades with the same name as you this will bring confusion and will most than likely result in loss of business. Variation of domain name can be a great cause for concern, remember that even if you have mybusinessname.ie , someone else can buy mybusiness-name.ie etc.

This has happened to me last year and is cause for great concern, and don't think that you are more protected with the .ie, even companies located abroad can get them if they can prove they have business in Ireland.
Don't forget to nuy variations of your domain name.

edanto

In my case, I'm trying to register a company name, so when I saw what conolan quoted I went to see if they had something similar for company names... and sure they do.

The CRO does not check proposed company names against names on the business names register and the trade mark register. Applicants are, therefore, advised to check these registers to ensure that the proposed company name does not conflict with a business name or trade mark since any person claiming to have a right to that name could take a civil passing off action to protect his/her interest.

As far as I can tell, the business name which has had (since 1960!) the name that I want my company to have is dormant, so I doubt there will be any TM issues. A quick search on the patent office site tells me that no-one has registered it as a TM and nothing comes up from a web search.

Anyways, I lodged the docs yesterday with the CRO, so we'll see how it turns out.