Same name as another business, not in this country and has no trademark here. Is that acceptable?

[Freelancetrainer]

Hi folks.

I’m just trying to understand the whole business naming process. I’ve applied for a trademark and now just waiting to see if there’s any objections.

The only trademark that came up as a possibility of objecting is not in the uk although does supply products to the uk but does not have the same name. I don’t supply or manufacture products, I just provide services and only within my immediate local area (my home) in the uk. So I’m not expecting any objections.

However, there is another business with the same name in America. It did not come up in the gov. Trademark search but I know they have a .com domain. They seem to be local in their own area over there.

What I’d like to know is:

Legally, Can I use the same name as a business in America that’s not in the UK nor trademarked in the UK, even though they do have a .com domain?

If I can use the same name then I know I won’t be able to use .com as that’s been taken. Will this be a big disadvantage to me as a single person operating from home? I’ve seen I can use the .com if I add my own name at the beginning, rather than just using the business name but I’m wondering if it could confuse clients looking for my website as the American one will pop up too if they just type in the business name?

Or can I have a .co.uk or some other ending that may work better? Or will the American .com still come up trumps with every search?

I have seen a number of businesses using the same or similar names to trademarked names so I’m assuming that even if I’m not allowed to trademark the name, I can still use it?

I may have made this all sound complicated.

 

[BannerPenguin]

From what I understand yes, you can use it as with no trademark the US has no bearing here and secondly, I wouldn't worry about the .com. Most .com's are taken these days and in the uk we mainly deal with .co.uk so that's all you really need. In terms of showing up right in the search engines, all down to having the site built right and with the correct on-page SEO (this won't necessarily make it number 1, but will give it the best chance).

 

[Freelancetrainer]

hi, thanks for your reply. Just out of interest, does Ireland have any bearing over here? And SEO, I’m not familiar with what that is? Right now I don’t have a website. That’s more likely to happen further down the line but I’m assuming I can go ahead and get a professional business email and get the domain now, which I can then use for the website when I do get round to that? I’m thinking I might get on Facebook and Instagram and our local community pages first as I’m operating from home in a village setting so may not have much use for a website as such - or not yet anyway. I’d like any website I have done to look good and would want to spend time on that. Right now I just need to get off the ground with as much professional useful marketing and expand on that later.

 

[CFBS]

I don't know if this is of any use to you but you can search for available web addresses on here:

https://www.123-reg.co.uk/

and then you can pay to make it yours only.