Published 5 September 2026 · updated 9 September 2026 · 5 min read
Registering a company name and registering a trade mark are two separate systems, run by two separate bodies, granting two completely different things. Confusing them is common and occasionally expensive.
What a company name gives you
The right to be registered under that name at Companies House, and protection only against another company registering something that reduces to the same name under the "same as" rules. That is all. It is not a brand right and it is not enforceable against someone trading under a similar name without incorporating.
What a trade mark gives you
An exclusive right to use a mark for the goods or services it is registered for, and the ability to stop others using something confusingly similar in that field. It is registered with the Intellectual Property Office, in classes, and it can be enforced.
The awkward overlap
A name can be lawfully registered at Companies House and still infringe someone else's trade mark. The mark holder can object to your company name and force a change, and they can stop you trading under it. Companies House does not check the trade mark register when it registers your company, and neither does any formation agent's availability checker — including ours, which says so on the page.
When to bother
- You are building a consumer brand where the name carries value.
- You will invest in marketing under that name.
- You are raising money — investors ask.
- You sell online, where marketplaces and platforms act on trade mark complaints quickly.
When not to
If you are trading under your own name locally, or the business is a vehicle for contracting rather than a brand, a trade mark is usually cost without benefit.
Do the search first
Before you commit to a name — on the register, on signage, on a domain — search the trade mark register as well as Companies House. Finding a conflict costs nothing at that stage and everything two years later.
Nothing here is advice about your situation
It is general information about how UK company registration works, written to be accurate at the time of publication. Rules and fees change. Where a decision matters — tax, structure, an insolvent company — take advice on your own facts.