Got domain but ASIC rejected bus name

Hi all,

I own a domain name, let's call it "mynewbusiness dot com" and I also tried to register the business name with asic. It turns out there is another name registered "My New Business" so my application WA rejected.

I was hoping that because the business name is actually also the domain, I thought I might be able to get away with registering it.

I'll request a review of the decision, but does anyone have any tips?

Thanks all!

 

I don't think it will help. If someone has the name you won't be able to get it registered.

 

A review won't help.

If there is already a registered business in that name then you can't use it. Imagine the confusion that could occur if multiple businesses used the same name!
Marg

 

It costs nothing to do an ASIC search and it would've saved you registering/reserving a domain name

 

Well aware of the asic searches and I was aware that this application would need a manual review by asic.

The $12 domain is still useful to me regardless, but I'm interested to see if there was a loophole for business names registered in the dot com format.

Something I'll keep researching.

 

Yeah, a review won't achieve much.
My wife has had a domain for ages - the bakehouse studio. She's an artist and this is the name of her studio - an old bakery building attached to our house.
She decided a while ago to register the business name and was knocked back. There is a business in Melbourne called Bakehouse Studios - music studios in what was presumably an old bakery.
She thought that as she was in a different city and industry and that there were some small differences in the name that it would be acceptable. It wasn't. But they let her register Bakehouse Studio Marrickville. (Marrickville being the suburb we live in.)
The domain name is pretty irrelevant now anyway as most stuff comes to her via FaceBook and Instagram.

 

Yeah, probably the best first move.
Some old school business owners would not even know how to use the internet, so it would be unfair to them if you could simply register a website domain name and share decades of their goodwill.

 

Ask ASIC for some tips.

I once had a company name rejected by ASIC. I added "(Aust)" to the name and it was accepted.

 

Somehow I don't think 'Trump Media Aust P/L' won't fly.

 

I just did a search and it tells me Trump Media (Aust) is available.
https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/R...BnRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=1yn9abjl2_12

 

Having the domain name doesn't give you any rights to registering the business name, so a review is probably pointless. As @kierank highlights, it might only take a small name change to get it through.

But could a very similar name or even having the same domain as this other business cause confusion (for your customers)? May be worth rethinking the name?

 

Apparently "Fake News Media" is taken.

 

Interesting info here. What what if I just go and register the trademark?

"A business name does not give you legal rights to that name. This means that if someone else uses your business name for their business, you don't have any rights to stop them.

If you need exclusive use of your business name, you should register it as a trade mark."

 

If worst comes to worst, see if you can sell the domain name to the other biz for a tidy profit!

 

But if someone is already using it - I forget the legal term for this, but they may have priority.

Have you checked that it isn't already registered?

 

No trademark is registered, no business is being operated. In fact there are no specific details (abn, registration date, state) on the ASIC search either. It's just a name, might even be a glitch in their system!

 

Well then registering a trademark may work. I think it costs $199.

Once you have this you could show it to asic to argue your case.