business idea...already existing in another country...

quxuik

Hello,

would anyone know if its legal to open a business which already exist in another country but under a different name? I had an idea but found it exhisting in another country already...

M.

jimmii

It depends on whether they have international rights or patents. If they do then you still might be able to license it from them. Are they a small business operating in one country or is a big multi-national who just haven't bothered with Ireland yet?

DubTony

I can see why you haven't gotten too many replies to the question. Your lack of specifics makes your question look stupid, and there's not a lot of fool suffering going on around here any more. Do you mean is it against the law (what's that got to do with anything) to start a business in the same sector as someone else? Like selling fish tanks? Or accounting services? Or books? Or providing internet access?

Or are you asking if you can sell a specific branded product without the "consent" of the owner?

If it's the former, it was a stupid question in the first place, and should get all sorts of derogatory answers :rolleyes: (I'm not suffering fools much either these days)

But just in case nobody here is in a cranky mood, I'll set the ball rolling.

Of course it's not illegal to set up a competing business in any sector. Do you think that SuperQuinn, Tesco, Dunnes, Aldi and Lidl are all owned by the same people? Aren't Coke and Pepsi competing products? Don't Sony and Phillips both make televisions? Is all the software in the world written by Microsoft?

If it's the latter, jimmii's answer applies, and you should consider being more specific when asking questions.

Hope that helps. :pac: