For most businesses, the name needs to be registered with ASIC, with one exception. Registering a business name is to ensure customers know who they are dealing with. Do you need to register a business name for your business, and what restrictions are there when choosing a business name?
When Registering a Business Name Is Not Needed
It is a simple requirement for determining if you need to register a business name. If the business name is exactly the same as the legal name, it does not have to be registered. There is a little bit of variance based on the business structure.
- Sole Trader – same as your own name
- Company – same as the proprietary limited company name
- Partnership – all of the partners’ names
- Association – same as the incorporated association name
As a sole trader, the name can either be your first name and last name or use the initials of your first name and full last name. As a sole trader, you could use John Pipe or J. Pipe, but I can’t use John P.. If you add any other variation to the business name, such as John Pipe Plumbing, it needs to be a registered business name.
As a company, the business name must be exactly the same. If the company name is JP Plumbing Pty Ltd, the business name has to be JP Plumbing Pty Ltd as well. A business name needs to be registered to use JP Plumbing.
A partnership can be the messiest, because without a business name, all of the partner names must be shown.
Restrictions When Choosing a Business Name
Registering a business name is not difficult but choosing a business name can be tricky. A business name needs to be available and there are restricted words and laws that prevent the use of certain words being used.
Restricted Words in a Business Name
Some words are restricted by use in a business name unless consent has been obtained from the relevant Minister. Generally, the restrictions are to ensure consumers are not misled or confused with what the word may imply.
Consent may be given if the business name doesn’t imply it is associated with something it is not and doesn’t cause confusion to consumers. For example, the word Bank is restricted and to most it is obvious why it would be restricted. If John Pipe tried to register JP Bank, it is unlikely to be allowed. Food Bank is a charitable organisation that provides food and grocery relief to help feed people in need.
For a full list of restricted words, visit the restricted words and expressions page on the ASIC website.
Undesirable Words in a Business Name
Some words are considered undesirable, mainly because they are offensive or suggest a connection with the government when no connection exists.
While not the full list of restrictions, the business name cannot suggest connection with Commonwealth, State, and local governments, authorities, or departments, or with charitable organisations.
Interestingly, two other listed restrictions of suggesting a connection are to people. Sir Donald Bradman was added in 2000, and remained as the only person until 2010, when the restriction of using Mary MacKillop in a business name was added in 2010, to reflect the significance of the canonisation of Mary MacKillop.
As with restricted words, consent for using otherwise undesirable may be granted if the connection exists.
An offensive word does not have to be a swear word, although swear words will be highly likely found to be undesirable. If in the opinion of ASIC, the words in the business name are likely to be offensive to the public or a section of the public, it won’t be permitted.
For a full list of undesirable words, visit the undesirable business names page on the ASIC website.
Similar To Another Business Name
The business name needs to be different to other business names. When applying, if the name you have chosen appears to be similar to another business name, it can be rejected. A set of rules is applied when testing if a name is similar, such as ignoring The, A or An as the first word in names.
Abbreviations or variations of words are also considered the same, such as Australian and Aust or Company and Co. Changing words from singular to plural or plural to singular will also be regarded as the same word.
For a full list of the test for availability, visit the business name availability tests page on the ASIC website.
Close To a Trademark
This one is one of the trickiest. When applying for a business name, there isn’t directly a check against trademarks. You need to do your own checks against trademarks to make sure you don’t receive a letter down the track that you have to stop using your business name.
Use the Quick Search at IP Australia to search for trademarks.
Domain Name Availability
The business name you want may be available but could already have been taken as a domain name. There are restrictions for getting some .au domain names but that doesn’t mean the domain name hasn’t already been taken.
Getting .com.au or .net.au based domain names require the domain name to be associated with a business name or related in some way. The name rules are less strict than registering a business name, with more flexibility to use a name that is derived from the business name or the product or service the business has.
It is the related rule that can make your otherwise unique business name legitimately unavailable as a .com.au or .net.au domain name if it has been acquired as part of a brand or product name instead of a business name.
Plain .au domain names (with the .com or .net) has less rules around it, only requiring there is some connection to Australia, such as having an Australian drivers license.
For more general .com domain names, these can be taken by anyone without any related purpose. You may find your business name is taken as a .com name, even if it isn’t being used.
Be mindful that the domain name, even if available, may still clash with an existing business name or trademark.