Does Registering a Business Name Protect It?
No. Registering a business name with the CRO doesn't give you any exclusive right to it, and someone else can register the same name. Protection comes from registering a trade mark, from forming a company (which stops another company registering the same name), or from the law of passing off if your name has built up goodwill.
What registration does
It puts on public record who is behind the trading name, as the law requires. It doesn't give you ownership of the name. The CRO doesn't check proposed business names against the company, business name or trade mark registers, so it can register the same or a similar name for someone else.
What does protect a name
- A registered trade mark gives exclusive rights to the name for the goods or services it covers, in Ireland or across the EU.
- A limited company stops another company being registered with the same or a too-similar name. It isn't trade mark protection, and it doesn't stop someone using the name as a business name.
- Passing off lets a business with established goodwill stop someone misleading customers with a similar name, but it means going to court.
Free name check against CRO companies, business names and trade marks.
Before you choose a name
Check the CRO company and business name registers and the Irish and EU trade mark registers. If someone already has a trade mark for a similar name in your line of business, using it could infringe their rights, even if the CRO registers your business name.
Sources
- CRO: Registering a business name
- CRO: Changes and cessation
- Registration of Business Names Act 1963
- Intellectual Property Office of Ireland: Trade marks
Last checked 14 November 2026 against the Registration of Business Names Act 1963 and Companies Registration Office (CRO) guidance. This is general information, not legal or tax advice for your company.