What Is the Difference Between a Company Name and a Trading Name?

Where do trademarks come into it?

People often mix up company names, trading names and trademarks and it is important to note that?trademarks are an entirely different things altogether.

A trademark is a way of registering a name as Intellectual Property (IP).

The requirement to register a unique name at Companies House does mean that company names are, to some extent, protected against other companies opening up with the same or a similar name. That doesn’t protect against a sole trader or partnership starting up with a similar name though.

To protect consumers from dealing with businesses that are passing themselves off as another company, registering a Trademark can stop people piggybacking in this way.

A trademark can be a name, a logo, or even a colour or series of colours; anything that can distinguish your goods or services from a competitor.

Which name should I use where in my business?

If you have a trading name?and?a company name, what do you need to use where?

You can use your trading name on any documents you like, but in some cases, you must also make it clear which company is the owner or operator of that style of trading.

To illustrate this, you may have a bank account that has the name “ABC Company Ltd, T/A Media Marketing Eight”. This is more important nowadays as direct payments must be made to a specifically named account.

You must show your official company name in:

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• Company websites
• Invoices, credit notes and demands for payment
• Receipts
• Business letters
• Contracts and legal documents
• Company notices such as general meeting notifications
• Bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, and order forms
• Cheques signed by or on behalf of the company
• Letters of credit
• Applications for licenses to carry on a trade or activity
• Registrations with government departments such as HMRC

Trading name or Company name?

In some cases, you may want to use a trading name. This will be helpful when you have an official company name that doesn’t accurately reflect your brand or when you can’t register your desired trading name. It’s simple to do and requires little in the way of legal work.

Contrast this with changing your company name registered at Companies House where you will need to go through an official procedure, and then change all of your contracts into the new official name.

Even if you take every precaution to choose an appropriate name from the start, things might change as your business evolves, so using a trading name can help.

If you have a lot of distinct brands that you wish to distinguish from one another then trading names may help here too.

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