Business name conflict with same name in other country

StereoSound

I have a new business name in mind, let's say I want to name my business "Thomas's pig house" and there is a business or company by the same name in the UK or Europe or anywhere else.. Can I legally use this name if another company in the world is using it? I've checked in CRO and "Thomas's pig house" is a non existant entity in Ireland but may exist outside the jurisdiction of Ireland. Can I buy this name today and have no consequences with other businesses outside the state?

Thanks

Buttercake

Its all down to trademarks, if its not trademarked then its pretty much fair game, unless the entity does business in Ireland and their customers are going to be your customers too.

mneylon

Buttercake wrote: »

Its all down to trademarks, if its not trademarked then its pretty much fair game, unless the entity does business in Ireland and their customers are going to be your customers too.

Even if there is a trademark there are different classes etc., so you can have multiple entities with the same name, but they can operate in different fields

seamus

You don't "buy" a business name, you register it. It doesn't have to even be unique in Ireland.

There is theoretically nothing stopping you from registering the same business name as the company next door. Though obviously that will create all sorts of confusion and bad-will. And the other company may have several legal avenues on which to sue.

Worrying about whether your new company will be jousting with a company in another country is jumping the gun a bit

DubTony

sugarman wrote: »

I'd imagine so. Sure isn't that why large multinationals have to operate under different names in different countries? Like Penney's being Penney's in Ireland but Primark in the rest of Europe. Or T.K Maxx in Europe and T.J Maxx state side. Or Burger King everywhere else in the world but Australia where it's called Hungry Jack's.

Just had to show off my considerable knowledge here. :P

Penneys used the Primark name in the UK because Ryan was afraid that J.C. Penney was going to open stores there and would have challenged the name.

T.J.Maxx called it TK Maxx in the UK becasue there was a company called T.J. Hughes in the UK since the 1920's, and they wanted to avoid confusion and association.

Hungry Jack's was the name that the Burger King franchise holder came up with in the early 70's as there was a single take-away in Adelaide called Burger King that either wouldn't sell the name, wanted too much or was simply never asked.

As to the OP's query. There's nothing to worry about.

brynne

I'm no business guru at all, but have you done the obvious and run a Google search for foreign businesses with the same name? The problem really occurs if, as in DubTony's Burger King example, another company exists elsewhere that is in the same line of business. Don't go there! I looked into this as my business has the same name as a registered business in Australia. But, since we aren't in the same line of business, and our trademarks are completely different and relevant to our own markets, there is no danger of ambiguity or infringement.
Picking up on Blacknight's post, your trademark is extremely important. It's a fundamental part of your business identity. Once you have your logo, register it as a trademark with the Irish Patents Office - even if it's only textual, register the font and colour scheme. It's not expensive to do. Even though it won't necessarily stop another company registering the same company name, if they're in the same line of business, their logo would have to be sufficiently different as to avoid confusion. If you're trading abroad - depending what your line of business is - you might consider registering your logo/trademark in the countries you trade with too.

Del2005

The Diesel Irish store in Blanch never seem to have issues with the international Diesel brand.

colm_mcm

Del2005 wrote: »

The Diesel Irish store in Blanch never seem to have issues with the international Diesel brand.

There’s a good story behind that one.