It is commonly, but mistakenly, believed that registering a business name or company name automatically entitles the use of that name and gives effective protection of that name.

When registering a business name or company name, the state department that registers the name (such as the Department of Fair Trading in New South Wales) or the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) will essentially only check whether there are any other businesses or company names which are identical (with some minor exceptions), and if not, they will register the name.

However, this does not necessarily mean that the registered holder of the name may actually trade under that name. If that registered holder wishes to use the name to trade in certain goods or services, and if another person has the same or a similar name registered as a trade mark for similar goods or services, then that other person will probably be able to prevent the registered business name holder or company from using that name in trade.

In addition, even if you have the business or company name registered, and if another person uses a deceptively similar name to trade in similar goods or services, then the registered business or company name might not be sufficient to enable you to stop that other person from using that name.

It is therefore almost always prudent to have a trade mark registered for the goods or services in question. 

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