Registered Company vs Business Name

BlackEdelweiss

I recently registerd a company and I hope to begin trading in the next few months. I also bought the .com & .ie domain names with the company name.

Shortly after this I went to set up a Linkedin page and found a page with the exact company name. This page had only been set up. I had also checked for companies with this name before registering the business and there were none at that time.

On thursday I went to check something on the CRO.ie website and saw that the person who set up the Linkedin page has also now registered the business name for the exact name of my company. This was done a week after I registered the company.

His Linkedin page also has a link to www.companyname.com. I own this domain name and my company website is on it.

I was advised by the guy who set up my company to contact this person and ask him to cease using this name. I have an email typed up but have not sent it yet. Can anyone advise me if this is the correct path to take. I have contacted the CRO and they said there is nothing they can do.

Mrs OBumble

Probably a better place for this: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=106

Darc19

McDonald's restaurants
McDonald's bicycles
McDonald's grocery
McDonald's hotel
McDonald's butcher
Etc etc

All permitted without any problem


However, McDonald's chipper wouldn't be acceptable.


So it's down to whether there can be confusion between the two traders.

So if the other guy is in a similar business then a simple cease and desist letter from a solicitor is the way to go.

BlackEdelweiss

Two ficticious names as an example:

1. Jim's Bike Shop Ardee Ltd. (me)
2. Jim's Bike Shop Ardee (other guy)

My company has nothing to do with bikes or Ardee or anyone called Jim but that is how similar the names are.

Homer

Do you know the other person involved? It would seem rather strange/random if you had zero connection with them?

BlackEdelweiss

No connection other than we work in the same field. It is a broad field but close enough that two businesses with the same name would not work. I have put a lot of time and some money into it so far. He has only bought the business name as far as I know.

Darc19

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Two ficticious names as an example:

1. Jim's Bike Shop Ardee Ltd. (me)
2. Jim's Bike Shop Ardee (other guy)

My company has nothing to do with bikes or Ardee or anyone called Jim but that is how similar the names are.

A simple cease and desist letter from a solicitor should do the trick.

Cro will allow business names to be registered. They don't check if others are similar. Limited company names are different though.

GerardKeating

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

His Linkedin page also has a link to www.companyname.com. I own this domain name and my company website is on it.

Get on to LinkedIn, you should be able to "claim" the page away from him.

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I was advised by the guy who set up my company to contact this person and ask him to cease using this name. I have an email typed up but have not sent it yet. Can anyone advise me if this is the correct path to take. I have contacted the CRO and they said there is nothing they can do.

Perhaps send him an email pointoing out your prior registration of the name and asking him to consider a change, if that does not work, a solicitors letter.

coylemj

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

He has only bought the business name as far as I know.

I don't think you can 'buy' a business name. In the sense that you now own it and nobody else can use it.

If you establish a business and the name you trade under is not your exact name or the name of a registered company, you are required to register it as a business name. It means that virtually anyone can register a business name, regardless of who else may be trading under the same name. There's probably thousands of pubs up and down GB with the same names - 'The King's Head', 'The Crown and Anchor' etc. They would all be registered as business names.

BlackEdelweiss

I sent him a fairly nice but straight forward email stating the situation. He came back with a relatively snotty answer saying that as the registered business name owner he is entitled to trade under this name. He also said that he is now the registered owner of the domain name www.companyname1.ie.

hullaballoo

From what you have posted, it seems like he is looking to piggy back on your brand, which he can't do if you really don't want him to. The problem here is the cost of pursuing a legal remedy and as a start up you might not be in a position to pursue a remedy.

You could choose to ignore it for now unless/until it becomes a problem for your business.

I am not as sure as others that the CRO would not be interested in this - have you tried contacting them?

CrankyHaus

Are you not required to have built up goodwill or reputation to be be able to rely on the tort of passing off?
If you haven't begun trading how can you meet this requirement?

BlackEdelweiss

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Are you not required to have built up goodwill or reputation to be be able to rely on the tort of passing off?
If you haven't begun trading how can you meet this requirement?

Sorry, I dont understand the point you are making.

BlackEdelweiss

hullaballoo wrote: »

From what you have posted, it seems like he is looking to piggy back on your brand, which he can't do if you really don't want him to. The problem here is the cost of pursuing a legal remedy and as a start up you might not be in a position to pursue a remedy.

You could choose to ignore it for now unless/until it becomes a problem for your business.

I am not as sure as others that the CRO would not be interested in this - have you tried contacting them?

I contacted the CRO and they said as it is only a registered business name he is legally entitled to trade under it. I think it has to be in the form Joe Blogs trading as Jim's Bikes Ardee.

I can ignore it, it is just a bit annoying after all the work I have put in and the expense I have gone to. It is a bit of sour grapes on his behalf that he cant accept that the name is taken and he should be the one to move on. Had he searched the CRO for registered companies when registering his business name he would have seen my company registered there. Buying the www.companyname1.ie domain name is just a bit pathetic in my opinion and says a lot about his business and moral ethics. And that hes just a bollox!

vintagecosmos

As there are no trademarks involved you cant really do anything. So you kind of have to choose, do you fight him on it, by registering a trademark etc. Or do you just change your domain name and trading name. New domain, and registering a trading name will set you back a couple of euro. Trademark and the legal hassle will set you back hundreds/thousands. All the while, any time spent on this fella is going to distract you from doing what you do best.

Its a crappy situation, but pick the path of least resistance to yourself getting your business up and running.

Hoboo

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I contacted the CRO and they said as it is only a registered business name he is legally entitled to trade under it. I think it has to be in the form Joe Blogs trading as Jim's Bikes Ardee.

I can ignore it, it is just a bit annoying after all the work I have put in and the expense I have gone to. It is a bit of sour grapes on his behalf that he cant accept that the name is taken and he should be the one to move on. Had he searched the CRO for registered companies when registering his business name he would have seen my company registered there. Buying the www.companyname1.ie domain name is just a bit pathetic in my opinion and says a lot about his business and moral ethics. And that hes just a bollox!

I'm a bit confused about the response from the CRO. I've had multiple company names rejected due to same name or similar name in the same industry and have had to choose another.

coylemj

Hoboo wrote: »

I'm a bit confused about the response from the CRO. I've had multiple company names rejected due to same name or similar name in the same industry and have had to choose another.

The company name has to be unique, not so the business name.

The CRO website specifically states .....

You should note that registration of a business name:

• does not give protection against duplication of the name;

https://www.cro.ie/Registration/Business-Name

Darc19

You shouldn't have sent him an email. That would be seen as a weak response.

Start with a strong cease and desist letter and you'd get a different response

vintagecosmos

Darc19 wrote: »

You shouldn't have sent him an email. That would be seen as a weak response.

Start with a strong cease and desist letter and you'd get a different response

If there is no trademark infringement then they arent doing anything illegal no?

BlackEdelweiss

I was getting a bit down about this yesterday but I am not going to let it bother me anymore. He is obviously a bollox, a sore looser, displays a lack of ethics which in our profession is paramount (it is not bike sales in Ardee) and has a domain name that would make me think he is a Nigerian prince looking for someone to help him transfer his fortune to an Irish bank account for a week. It all reflects badly on him and it has given me a bit of drive to accelerate my company start up. My vision appears to be on a much grander scale than his so we will see how it goes.

One question I have: does he have to trade as 'Joe Blogs trading as Jim's Bikes Ardee' on his Linkedin page and any advertisements, stationary etc that he uses or can he just use 'Jim's Bikes Ardee'? Also, do I have to trade as 'Jim's Bikes Ardee Ltd' or can I go as 'Jim's Bikes Ardee'

CrankyHaus

Best of luck.

Are you saying he does not appear to have any intention to actually trade under the name that is an imitation of yours?
Because it did occur to me that someone may run a hustle of scanning the CRO for newly registered companies, set up businesses with a very similar name and then demand money to "close down" the business.

Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. The link below summarises the tort of passing off. Note the first requirement of the three part test.

https://www.rdj.ie/insights/your-eggs-or-mine--court-of-appeal-restates-the-law-on-passing-off?s=0.832030144367

BlackEdelweiss

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Best of luck.

Are you saying he does not appear to have any intention to actually trade under the name that is an imitation of yours?
Because it did occur to me that someone may run a hustle of scanning the CRO for newly registered companies, set up businesses with a very similar name and then demand money to "close down" the business.

Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. The link below summarises the tort of passing off. Note the first requirement of the three part test.

https://www.rdj.ie/insights/your-eggs-or-mine--court-of-appeal-restates-the-law-on-passing-off?s=0.832030144367

No, I think he genuinely wants to trade under the name, he just came in 2nd with the idea.

I also saw this on the CRO website this morning:
Checking the Name
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. Applicants are advised to check those registers to ensure the proposed business name does not conflict with a company name or trade mark since any person claiming to have a right to that name could take an infringement action or a passing off action to defend his/her interest.