While it may feel like a minefield, you have a lot of freedom in naming your company but it pays to do your research before you committing to it. Company name registration is the formal and legal registration of the name with Companies House. It’s an important step in setting up a limited company as it is the name that will appear on all company stationary. Most will trade under the registered company name to avoid any confusion but it is possible to adopt a different ‘trading name’. However, you will still need to state on all company stationary that it is a trading name of the registered company.
Company Name Registration Rules & Regulations
What’s in a name? It turns out, quite a lot. Before ordering your business cards displaying your sparkly new company name, your first port of call should be to use an online company name checker. While you may think you have come up with the name to end all names, you may find that someone else has beat you to the punch or that it is too similar to a company name already registered; either way, you will need to rethink. There are also a host of company naming rules and regulations that you need to be mindful of when registering your desired company name. If you break certain company naming rules, Companies House will simply reject your company formation application;
The company name registration must be unique
As it says on the tin, you can’t register a company name that already exists on the company register, so if someone already has the exact company name you were hoping for then you will need to think again.
Your company name registration can’t be too similar to one that is already registered
This can be a bit trickier as what is ‘too similar? Someone may have already registered a company name that is close to what you want to use but a company name is generally considered the ‘same as’ or ‘too alike’ if it is likely to confuse consumers as to which company is which. Generally you can’t register a company name that only has minor differences to one that already exists, such as:
- plurals (i.e an ‘s’ as the end of the name);
- adding ‘the’ or ‘www’ at the beginning of a company name;
- substituting certain words and expressions that have the same meaning, e.g. “and” with “&”, “percent” with “%”, “at” with “@”, “one” with “1”, “plus” with “+”, etc;
- adding words or expressions such as ‘UK’, ‘com’, ‘GB’, ‘services’, ‘net’, etc;
- adding blank spaces, punctuation, characters, signs or symbols between or after a word (i.e. when you remove these, the company name would still be the same as the one registered);
- using permitted characters “*”, “=”, “#”, “%” and “+” if they are used as one of the first three characters in a name;
- making the name longer – only the first 60 characters are compared
Your company name registration must end with “limited” or “Ltd”
Companies situated in Wales can use the Welsh equivalents of ‘Cyfyngedig’ or ‘Cyf’ if they choose to. However, if you are registering a Public Limited Company must add ‘PLC’ or ‘Public Limited Company’ at the end.
Certain characters, signs, symbols and punctuation are not allowed
For a full list of these visit the Companies House website.
It cannot suggest a connection with HM Government, a devolved government or administration, or a specified public authority.
Some words you need to be careful with, such as using ‘agency’, making sure there is no connection to a government body or department. For others you would need to obtain written permission (no-objection) from the relevant body. You can find a full list of them on the Companies House words and expressions which could imply a connection with a government department guidance.
Permission is required from Companies House if your company name is to include any ‘sensitive’ words or expressions.
Rather than being words that could offend, sensitive words and expressions tend to be those that imply association with an authoritative body or some form of accreditation. You can find a full list of them on the Companies House sensitive words and expressions guidance. If your company name contains these, it is still possible to use them if you obtain written permission (non-objection) from the relevant body prior to your application for company registration.
It should not be offensive or include offensive words.
Not sure why you would want to include these but they are best avoided. Not only would they likely offend people, Companies House won’t let you use them.
It can only be a maximum of 180 characters long.
Which is quite long. It needs to be unique, but it should also be something that can be remembered and preferably easy enough to spell.
What if the company name I want is already taken?
If the name has already been taken then you will need to think again. However, the company name registration rules do not prevent you trading under a name that is the same as another company’s registered name. If you go down this route your trading name will effectively be the same in all respects with the exception of the registered designatinator (Ltd or Limited). You would still need to register a company name different to anything already on the company register in order to use a trading name (effectively Not The Company Name I Wanted Ltd T/A The Company Name I Wanted). Be mindful that this could cause complications for you if the company trades nationally or in the same location as the company with the registered name.
While this is an option for some (think local pub names or restaurants that share the same name up and down the country), others may want to keep their company name unique in order to build a brand and prevent any confusion with other namesakes, especially if you plan to be a national company. Using a trading name this way risks ‘passing off’, as it could confuse the consumer and you it may be argued that you gain goodwill (and probably business) from another company’s name. If the owner of the registered company name objects and can evidence the naming conflict, you could find yourself facing a legal challenge to stop trading under that name so it requires some careful consideration.
Make sure you check for trademarks that match your company name
As with company names on the company register, you need to be mindful of choosing a company name which contains trademarked words, or words deliberately used to resemble them. You will need to check this separately as this will not be covered by the company registration process and you could unwittingly register a company name which carries a trademark. as this may cause you similar ‘passing off’ issues later on. However, unlike ‘passing off’, the owner of a trademark doesn’t need to demonstrate that the similarity causes confusion or goodwill towards your company as a registered trade mark gives the owner exclusive rights (and therefore protection) to use it nationally. Check this by searching your company name on the UK Trade Mark Register on the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) website.
In short, look before you leap. Just like web domains and Twitter handles, trademark availability needs to be considered before wasting any money and working hours on creating inevitably unusable business branding.