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Company Name Objections

As of 1st October 2008, company name adjudicators (of the Company Names Tribunal) will only have the authority to deal with company name disputes that involve opportunistic company name registrations. This is a result of sub-sections 69 (1)(a) and (b) of the Companies Act 2006, which came into full force and effect on 1 October 2008.

The sub-sections provide that where a person/entity wishes to object (by way of application) to a company’s registered name on the ground that either:

• the name is the same as a name associated with the complainant/applicant in which the complainant/applicant has goodwill,  

OR

• the name is sufficiently similar to such a name that its use in the United Kingdom would be likely to mislead by suggesting that there is a connection between the company and the complainant/applicant;

then the objection must be made by application to a company names adjudicator.

Regarding sub-section (a), objections will be lodged on this basis where the applicant is the registered proprietor of a trade mark or the registrant of another company name that is essentially the same as the company name being objected to, and the applicant has, through extensive use in the UK, established a reputation and goodwill in relation to that trade mark or company name. Such an application would involve a claim that the company name was opportunistically registered and that the intention of the respondent when registering the name was to ‘ride on the reputation and goodwill’ of the applicant’s trade mark or company name, or somehow gain an undue profit.  

Regarding sub-section (b), objections of this nature will be lodged where the applicant is the registered proprietor of a trade mark or the registrant of another company name that is sufficiently similar to the company name being objected to, and any use of the company name being objected to has resulted or will result in the public being misled into falsely believing that there is a commercial connection or association between the respondent and the applicant. This is essentially the crux of the common law tort of passing off, which is a form of unlawful competition. Once again, an application of this nature would most likely involve a claim that the respondent has opportunistically registered the company name in order to gain an unfair or undue advantage.

It is important to note that the introduction of sub-sections 69 (1)(a) and (b) of the Companies Act means that company names adjudicators cannot deal with disputes where one company is of the opinion that another companies name is too similar to their own but where there is no suspected opportunism behind the registration of the name. Such disputes are dealt with by the Companies House.

As a result of the above, the UK IPO's Trade Marks Law Section will change its name, also as from 1 October 2008, to the Trade Marks Tribunal Section.