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Geek Culture / Legal advice - company name

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Luke B
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Joined: 13th Nov 2004
Location: Exeter, UK
Posted: 13th Jan 2005 02:38
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Hi, the development team I am working in has thought up a name - Knife Edge Studios. However, there is a company with the name Knife Edge Software, in America. I just want to ask: is our name too close, and even if it is can we still have it if we register the name in the UK.

Thanks,

Luke

"THE OPPRESSION"

PC: Athlon XP 2400, 512mb, 120gb, XP Pro, DX 9.0c, GForce 2
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Richard Davey
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Posted: 13th Jan 2005 02:48
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If you truly want to register this as a real company name with Companies House - they will advise you if it conflicts with anything else. It is irrelevant if there is a company in the US with the same name however, it's the UK you need to check.

Super Joe crack combat soldier fights a long battle against overwhelming odds.
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The Freeman
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Posted: 13th Jan 2005 02:52
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OH!!! my god rich is alive!!!!!
thought you been cryo frozen!
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The Freeman
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Posted: 13th Jan 2005 03:09 Edited at: 13th Jan 2005 04:53
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frozen on 22nd of decmember but now he has been woke up to fight the war of the missing prizes.

Detective rich davey is called to investigate Aided by moderators,
Detective rich uncovers the possobility that a missing prize me be the primary subject in the case but as rich gets closer to the truth he gets caught up in a race for his life, With the time running out,A deeper threat emerges that challenges the very existence of the prizes.

!ONLY MESSING!
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Iain
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Posted: 13th Jan 2005 03:18
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lol, cant wait for the next episode.
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BatVink
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Posted: 13th Jan 2005 05:15
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You can register the name, as it is a separate legal entity. I presume you are talking about a Limited Company, as you mention registering the name. Sole Traders and Partnerships don't register their name, although they may use a registered trademark, which is another story.

You may still have an infringement issue, whereby the US company may claim you are trading under their branding. You need somebosy like Philip to explain the nitty gritty, I get my info from my accountant.

BatVink
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Philip
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Posted: 14th Jan 2005 07:09 Edited at: 14th Jan 2005 07:10
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This was a topic I was going to cover at the 2005 Con.

The short answer is that within certain limits you can register pretty much any name as a new company. Some limits are obvious (you cannot register the name of an existing company) whereas others are a bit more obscure (certain words are prohibited such as "Royal" or "Imperial" as they imply a connection with the Crown). Names which are discriminatory or offend against public decency are also likely to be rejected.

You can search Companies House free of charge to see if your name is in theory available. The website is www.companieshouse.gov.uk I think. Look for the free company information section.

Obviously if you register a company name which is too similar to an existing company you may find that you will then be sued for, inter alia, passing off by the existing company. You may then have to surrender that name. For example, you would be unlikely to avoid threats and litigation if you tried to register "Booots".

Philip

What do you mean, bears aren't supposed to wear hats and a tie? P3.2ghz / 1 gig / GeForce FX 5900 128meg / WinXP home
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Foxy
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Posted: 14th Jan 2005 20:26
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I know over here that logo's and names etc must have at least a 17% difference from any existing registered things like that. I'm not sure about you guys over there in the UK but I'm sure that this would not differ much (if any) as oz is part of the British commonwealth.

In the case of knife edge software, unless they have an international trademark or patent or whatever it shouldnt affect you in the UK. My best advice is to talk to a lawyer about it although this may cost you a bit.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 14th Jan 2005 20:52
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Quote: "Obviously if you register a company name which is too similar to an existing company you may find that you will then be sued for, inter alia, passing off by the existing company."


This is more the grey area, because if you opened up a Shoe store named Bootz you would be allowed to have it, if on the other hand you were opening up a multipurpose pharmasutical ... that's when your going to run into problems
I mean that is a good example because those companies exist.

Knife Edge Software should be alright, I mean you'd need to check against what is out there already. Should be pretty safe though.
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BatVink
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Posted: 15th Jan 2005 00:01
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Quote: "if you opened up a Shoe store named Bootz you would be allowed to have it"


That's not what Toys R Us (TRU) would argue. They stopped the company Inkjets R Us (IRU) trading under said name, even though TRU don't sell inkjets, but IRU do.

BatVink
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GothOtaku
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Posted: 15th Jan 2005 11:22
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Quote: "That's not what Toys R Us (TRU) would argue. They stopped the company Inkjets R Us (IRU) trading under said name, even though TRU don't sell inkjets, but IRU do."

Yeah, they said it'd reflect poorly on them since it was so close to their name and people would associate them together. I'd recommend something different like maybe Knife's Edge Studios or something like that, similar to the name but just different enough, or something completely different. Your best bet would be something completely different if it was in the U.K. but since it's in the U.S. you most likely won't have too much trouble. However, if they're well known then you'd be more likely to get sued.
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Major Payn
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Posted: 15th Jan 2005 11:46
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I was going to name my one-man DB dev studio "Dark Fin games" and have a dark shark fin poking out of the water as the logo. But I found out that Dark fin is some sort of online comic book that stars some shark chick, which kind of freaked me out, Now I don't know whether or not to use it anymore.

Guns arn't the problem, people are the problem, shoot all the people and guns arn't a problem anymore.
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