I want to call my business a name thats already used by another company 80 miles away

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contact23

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I want to call my business a name thats already used by another company in Dublin. I live approx 80 miles away. Can i use the same name?

I have registered the name with the CRO, and while it may seem odd to use a name that someone else already has, I want the name for no other reason than i like it and only became aware of the other party after i registered the name.

The other firm has the dot com domain but the dot ie is still available and i would like to take that, am i looking for trouble or is it acceptable since the two entities are seperated by a considerable distance.

Its a print company and for example it is called glogloprinting.com and i want glogloprinting.ie

bit odd i know but any thoughts??
 
No protection for business names. If the have a trademark that's different.

Be careful that their reputation does not tarnish yours, if they get a bad name for something it could affect you.
 
Hi Joe

Are you sure that there is no protection for business names? If contact sets up glogloprinting a few doors down from another shop of the same name, they will be able to stop him accusing him of "passing off".

contact

I really think you are inviting trouble on yourself. Printing is presumably both an off-line and on-line business. Having the same name but with .ie will confuse people and they may well try to stop you which will involve you in expensive legal costs.

Registering the name with the CRO means nothing at all. I can register IBM Computers tomorrow if I like. If I start trading as IBM Computers, I will get a solicitor's letter sharpish.

Why not look at printing companies in London for inspiration. If you find a company in London called Heavenly Printers , you could not be stopped from using that name in Ireland, unless they have registered it as a trade name or trade mark, which is very unlikely.

Brendan
 
I agree, I do not think that's it's a good idea to use the same name. But:

Registration of a business name provides not protection.
If the OP use a similar logo, colour scheme etc then certainly there could be an allegation of passing off but simply using the same name which is not trademarked I don't think so.
 
I would have thought that the exact same name was much more serious evidence of passing off than a similar logo or colour scheme.

Brendan
 
Using the same name as someone who is already trading with that name could certainly lead to passing -off claim by the original user, assuming that there was reasonable belief that people could be misled into thinking the second user was the same as the first one.

I remember many cases with travel agencies - even a similar name with a letter changed was stopped by a company who had first choice of the name in question because it would "cause confusion".
 
contact23 said:
I have registered the name with the CRO, and while it may seem odd to use a name that someone else already has, I want the name for no other reason than i like it and only became aware of the other party after i registered the name.
Click to expand...

Why would you go putting your efforts, time and money into building up a business under a name that you almost certainly will be prevented from using at some time in the future? Somewhere around 7 or 8 out of 10 startups fail in any case, so why start out by handicapping yourself?

From a practical point of view, not having the .com domain can cause problems:
  • Search engine issues
  • Customers going to the wrong domain
  • Lost emails
  • Incorrectly being added to spam filters

Independent of the legal situation, you may find that you are unable to get the domain name if it is the name of an all ready registered company, which I expect it is. And even if you get it, it can be taken away if the owner of the .com domain can show that you are in the same business area as him and that his site and business is long established.

As for the legal situation, despite the fact that you were able to register the name, if it is the name of a fully functioning business, then there is every chance you will be prevented from using it.

I'm speaking as someone who has been successful in going after people who have done both these things.
 
Jim2007 said:
From a practical point of view, not having the .com domain can cause problems:
  • Search engine issues
  • Customers going to the wrong domain
  • Lost emails
  • Incorrectly being added to spam filters
Click to expand...

That is a really excellent point which I had not thought of. You should have the .com and the .ie name for any business.

The name is less important than most people think.

Brendan
 
great advice --- forget the name .... and work on new name with .ie and .com registration
 
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