Another company using my company name.

Tupins

Hi, I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

I set up a business early last year and registered my business name with the CRO. While doing some online research I have just come across another company offering the same service and using the exact same company name.

Would I be right in assuming that only one company can be registered in Ireland under one name, and that therefore their business is not registered?

Do I have the right to contact this other business and ask them to change their name?

I would appreciate any help with this as I would hate for my company to be confused with another as they may not be reputable.

Thanks.

drunkmonkey

They could be thinking the same thing, who was in business first?

Have you the .ie or .com registered to yourself, if people are searching for the company online it's you they need to find.

dbran

+1

This would be a legal matter which you would need to seek legal advise on. It would depend on what the service was, when they were established, where they are located etc.

Registering a business name gives no legal protection to the business name whatsoever. It is just a registration that enables a person to ascertain who is behind a particular business and where it is located. Other then that it does nothing else.

Kind Regards

dbran

Acoshla

I registered a business name here last year, bought the .ie domain too etc, there were two other variations of my business name (but still practically the same) registered who were both selling similar products but as neither were operating enough to have even been heard of I went with it anyway. I decided to see if I could register the name and I could so there was no problems.

Not giving any legal advice but this little bit of my story is kind of relevant to yours but outside of Irish businesses, last month I was contacted through a solicitor from a large American company ready to sue me for all I had (which is nothing!) for using their name and selling confusingly similar products inside their EU trademark jurisdiction. In the end they could do nothing because I pointed out that my stuff wasn't at all similar and even though they had an EU trademark, my research through the CRO and .ie domain register had not showed that I was not entitled to use the similar name, so the fault didn't lie with me, but a flaw in the system.

I would say check who of you was registered first, then get legal advice.

seamus

Tupins wrote: »

Would I be right in assuming that only one company can be registered in Ireland under one name, and that therefore their business is not registered?

No, not for business names.
Anyone can register any business name, whether it's been taken or not.

I'm not sure what the rules are on a limited companies, I imagine there's something stricter in place there.

It's generally a civil matter. If a company is operating under the same (or a similar) business name as an already established business and the established business can show that the intention of the new company is to steal or damage the original company's business, then they may have recourse open to them.

However, if the other business operates in a different industry and/or in a significantly different jurisdiction then there may be little or no recourse.

The most well-known example of operating in different industries is Apple Corps (the Beatles's record label) versus Apple Computers. Apple Corp originally tried to sue for trademark infringement, but really only managed to "win" in so far as Apple Computers agreed to stay away from the music business (at the time!).

Jurisdiction is a funny one. I'm sure there are plenty of "Doyle Plumbing" businesses in Ireland, operating independently without problems because it's a very regional type of business. But if I was to set up a communications company called eircom, then I would be clearly treading on their all-Ireland jurisdiction.

J.Ryan

dbran wrote: »

+1

This would be a legal matter which you would need to seek legal advise on. It would depend on what the service was, when they were established, where they are located etc.

Registering a business name gives no legal protection to the business name whatsoever. It is just a registration that enables a person to ascertain who is behind a particular business and where it is located. Other then that it does nothing else.

Kind Regards

dbran

+1

Registering a business name, just allows you to trade under that name, there is no limit to the number of business that can have that business name.

The OP may be confused with Limited Companies, if you set up a limited company called XZ ltd, then no one else could set up a company called XZ and if they decided to register a trade name XZ then the company could apply for that name to be revoked.

CompanyBureau

There is a civil action you can take called a 'passing off' action, however you need to prove that they are trying to pass off as your company using your brand.

As mentioned here already, you can have multiple business names. Even a limited company name doesn't stop someone registering the same name as a business name (minus the 'limited' obviously) The only way to truly secure a name is to register it as a trade mark.

EamonOSullivan

Can you clarify the points:

Is this other business using your Limited Company name?
Are you both using a Business Name i.e. registerde with the CRO?

If the first applies then you have a chance to take some action, if the second then you may be stuck.

One of our clients had this problem some years ago, but the other business was clueless, and so went out of business rapidly.

To take a positive spin on it, this company I mentioned used the fact that another business had their name as a positive thing and contacted everyone they knew ( in business ) to say ''to avoid confusion, ACME of 1 Main Street is not us'' and they actually got some business out of it.

Tupins

Hi thanks for all the replies.

Just to clarify, I am not a limited company, I have simply registered the Business name. I checked the CRO website and I am the only one registered under that name so this other crowd have not registered their company name. It would appear that they could however, as I am not a registered company.

I do own the .ie domain of the company name though and have a website up and running whereas I have only found a listing of the other guys on a business listing website. They do not appear to have a website, just a phone number so I'm guessing their operation is not as established as mine.

From what people are saying it seems I have no legal right to ask them to change their name at this point up until I register the company. I'm not ready to do that yet as basically I haven't even made money from it yet etc - I want to build it up a bit first.

I just hope people don't confuse us or that they are not a cowboy operation that could in some way damage my reputation.

Thanks again for all the responses.

Mr Clonfadda

Ltd company names are controlled and it can be difficult to get even a similar name and the company with the similar name can object and you will be refused. When i formed my company i had to point out that the similar named companies were mostly shutdown and the business was not similar i.e. i was in IT and therefore wasn't going to cause a conflict with a similar named food company

Registering a business name ie paddy murphy t/a Murphy auctioneers offers no name protection at all

however you can't infringe on a licensed tradmark so paddy murphy couldn't trade as Guinness drinks.

You could also have a long standing company/business name and a company could register that name as a Trade Mark and if granted could then challenge your right to use the Name.