Company name protection

[durham_candles]

Hi, Just a general question at the moment:

If I had a company called ABC Ltd (for example), and found another company using the same name, based in the UK, what would the law say - can I stop them trading with the same name?

Anyone gone through this kind of thing before?

Regards

[Limeone]

is not trademarked and was not a Ltd company then you would only be able to chase them off the name by claiming your prior use. For that the name has to be well known and that means looking at the nature of the conflict with the other business.

You can not register 2 companies with the same name at Companies House but registration of the Ltd company does not afford you name protection. It is possible for a limited company to be called ABC Ltd and for a sole trader or partnership to open as ABC also.

Trademarking the name protects it in that it provides IP rights to defend or you have common law rights to defend on potential Passing off actions. These are less common as they are more complex and also more complicated to pursue.

Happy to advise further if you email us a short synopsis of the problem.