Objection to Company Name

The Companies Act 2006 is one of the largest pieces of legislation ever to pass through Parliament and with it comes a fresh potential course of action for those brand owners concerned with protecting their intellectual property.

Currently, if a company is registered under a similar name to that of an existing company the Companies Act 1985 allows for an objection to be lodged. No such recourse exists, however, if the name to be protected is not registered as a company name. So, if a company is registered under the name of or similar to the name of an existing brand, the brand owners must either rely on an action for trade mark infringement under the Trade Marks Act 1994 or pursue a common law claim for 'passing off'.

The implementation of certain sections of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Act") in October 2008, however, will allow objections to a company's registered name on the grounds that:

a) it is the same as a name in which the applicant has goodwill e.g. a brand name; or
b) it is sufficiently similar to an existing brand used in the UK that is likely to mislead the public into thinking there is a connection with the existing brand.

It should be noted that the Act applies only to companies and not to sole traders, partnerships or LLPs.

It is intended that the Secretary of State will appoint a Company Names Adjudicator whose office will be situated at the Intellectual Property Office in Newport, South Wales. BERR have published draft regulations (http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file40915.doc) which cover, inter alia, the application and rebuttal procedures as well as provisions for costs and expenses.

It is expected that the new procedure will provide a simplified and less formal alternative to the existing remedies for brand protection.