Business name availability tests
When checking if a business name is available to register, we apply a series of automated tests to assist us in assessing that the name:
- is not identical or nearly identical to a name that is already registered to someone else
- is not undesirable for registration, and
- does not include any restricted words or expressions.
The automated tests are applied in accordance with the rules set out in the Business Names Registration Act 2011 and the Business Names Registration (Availability of Names) Determination 2015 (the Names Determination).
An explanation of these tests is provided below.
It鈥檚 important to note that even though a name might be available to register, it does not give you exclusive rights to the use of that name. It is the responsibility of business owners to make sure their name does not infringe on any existing names or Trade Marks. You should always check your proposed business name for any existing trade marks with .
For more information, visit How to protect your business name.
Invalid characters
Business names can only contain certain characters. A full list of accepted characters is outlined below.
Examples of unacceptable characters include umlauts (盲) and some special characters (like the 'greater than' > symbol).
Valid Character Set
|
Character
|
Character
|
Character
|
Character
|
|
space
|
8
|
Q
|
l
|
|
!
|
9
|
R
|
m
|
|
"
|
:
|
S
|
n
|
|
#
|
;
|
T
|
o
|
|
$
|
=
|
U
|
p
|
|
%
|
?
|
V
|
q
|
|
&
|
@
|
W
|
r
|
|
'
|
A
|
X
|
s
|
|
(
|
B
|
Y
|
t
|
|
)
|
C
|
Z
|
u
|
|
*
|
D
|
\
|
v
|
|
,
|
E
|
_
|
w
|
|
-
|
F
|
a
|
x
|
|
.
|
G
|
b
|
y
|
|
/
|
H
|
c
|
z
|
|
0
|
I
|
d
|
{
|
|
1
|
J
|
e
|
|
|
|
2
|
K
|
f
|
}
|
|
3
|
L
|
g
|
 |
|
4
|
M
|
h
|
|
|
5
|
N
|
i
|
|
|
6
|
O
|
j
|
|
|
7
|
P
|
k
|
|
Unknown words
A business name that contains a word that is unknown to our systems may queue for a manual assessment. This may include words that are made up, words that have an unusual spelling, or words that are compounded.
By manually assessing these words, we can make sure that the word isn鈥檛 restricted and that the name is not otherwise undesirable for registration.
Undesirable words or expressions
Your proposed business name will be checked to make sure that it:
-
is not likely to be offensive to members of the public or members of a section of the public, and听
-
does not suggest a connection with a prescribed entity or body where no such connection exists.
For example, the name 'Department of Finance Money Exchange' may suggest a connection with the Commonwealth Department of Finance and will be refused if the applicant does not have a valid connection with that Government department.
For more information about the kind of names that are undesirable, see听'Undesirable names'.
Restricted words or expressions
Your proposed business name will be checked for any restricted words or expressions.
Certain words and expressions are restricted from use in business names to prevent their improper use from misleading members of the public. A restricted word or expression cannot be used in a business name unless you have written consent from the relevant Minister or public authority.
Abbreviations of restricted words and expressions, or words and expressions that have the same or a similar meaning, are also restricted.
Some examples of restricted words are 鈥楥harity鈥�, 鈥業ncorporated鈥�, Co-operative鈥�, 鈥楤ank鈥� and 鈥楿niversity鈥�.
For more information, see听'Restricted words and expressions'.
Identical or nearly identical names
We will check if your proposed business name is identical or nearly identical to any other names.
Your proposed business name cannot be registered if it鈥檚 identical or nearly identical to any of the following:
- a business name that is already registered to someone else;
- a name that is reserved or registered under the Corporations Act 2001 for another body, such as a company or registrable body name;
- 听a name that is registered on a notified State or Territory register. Notified registers include registers of co-operative societies, incorporated associations and/or limited partnerships;
- any notified names of Commonwealth, State or Territory government bodies;
- any names that are held for review. For example, when a business name is cancelled it will be held for a review period of four months, or six months if the cancellation was initiated by ob体育;
- any names that are pending and for which someone else has priority. For example, a business name may be pending because an application is waiting on payment or confirmation of an Australian Business Number; or
- any business name that is held for transfer. If you are the new holder of the business name, visit Transfer your business name 听to learn how to register the business name with your details.
It should be noted that there are separate rules for comparing a business name with company names and separate rules for comparing business names with business names.
The Names Determination prescribes specific rules that we are required to use when comparing a business name with other names to determine if they are identical or nearly identical, and our Business Name Availability tests are applied accordingly.
Rules for comparing business names with company names听
When comparing a business name with a company name, the rules set out in Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Corporations Regulations 2001 补辫辫濒测.听听
Under these rules, a business name is identical or nearly identical to a company name if the names are the same after the following matters are disregarded:
- the use of the definite (the) or indefinite (a, an) article as the first word in one or both names;
- the use of the words 鈥淧roprietary鈥�, 鈥淧ty鈥�, 鈥淟imited鈥�, 鈥淟td鈥�, 鈥淣o Liability鈥� or 鈥淣L鈥�;
- whether a word is plural or singular in one or both names;
- the type, size and case of letters, the size of any numbers or other characters, and any accents, spaces and punctuation marks used in the names; and
- when comparing a proposed business name to a company name, where one name includes a word or expression in the second column in the following table and the other name contains an alternative for that word or expression listed in the third column:听
|
|
The word or expression... |
is considered the same as the alternative word or expression... |
|
1 |
Australian |
Aust |
|
2 |
Company |
Co or Coy |
|
3 |
Co |
Company or Coy |
|
4 |
Coy |
Company or Co |
|
5 |
Number |
No |
|
6 |
and |
& |
|
7 |
Incorporated |
Inc |
|
8 |
Corporation |
Corp |
|
9 |
Australian Company Number |
ACN |
Case study: Name availability - The Australian Health Spa
Sam wants to register a new business name 鈥楾he Australian Health Spa鈥�. However, there鈥檚 already an existing company named 鈥楢UST Health Spa Pty Ltd鈥�.
As explained above, the definite article 鈥楾he鈥� in the business name and the words 鈥楶ty鈥� and 鈥楲td鈥� in the company name are disregarded. 听The use of capitals is also disregarded. Finally, the word 鈥楢ustralian鈥� in the business name is considered to be the same as the equivalent word 鈥楢ust鈥�, as per item 1 in the table above.
Once these matters are disregarded, this leaves 鈥渁ust health spa鈥� in the proposed business name and 鈥渁ust health spa鈥� in the company name. Based on this, the names are considered identical and Sam would not be able to register 鈥楾he Australian Health Spa鈥� as a business name.
Rules for comparing business names with other names
The Names Determination sets out the rules we are required to apply when determining if a business name is identical or nearly identical to another name.
These rules provide matters that are to be disregarded and matters that are to be considered when comparing business names with other names (other than company names).
Matters that are disregarded
The table below explains the matters that we are required to disregard when comparing a business name with another name (other than a company name):
|
Matters that are disregarded |
Examples |
|
The use of the definite (the) or indefinite (a, an) article, unless it is the whole name |
鈥淎 bird in the hand鈥� is the same as 鈥淏ird in hand鈥� |
|
The use of the words:
|
鈥淏usiness Growth Association鈥� is the same as 鈥淏usiness Growth鈥� |
|
Whether a word is singular or plural. The singular and plural forms of a word are considered the same. |
鈥楥hild鈥� and 鈥楥hildren鈥� 鈥楥ar鈥� and 鈥楥ars鈥� 鈥楤attery鈥� and 鈥楤atteries鈥� |
|
The size of characters, the type and case of letters, any accents, and spaces between characters and punctuation marks |
鈥滱ustralian Holiday Apartments鈥� is the same as 鈥渁ustralianholidayapartments鈥� |
|
The order of words in the names |
鈥淕reen House鈥� is the same as 鈥淗ouse Green鈥� |
|
Host names such as 鈥榳ww鈥� and domain extensions such as 鈥榥et鈥�, 鈥榦rg鈥� or 鈥榗om鈥� |
鈥渨ww.myfirstbusiness.com.au鈥� is the same as 鈥淢y First Business鈥� or 鈥渕yfirstbusiness.org鈥� |
听
Case study: Name availability 鈥� Chef鈥檚 Kitchen
Rob wants to register the business name 鈥楥hefs鈥� Kitchens鈥�. However, there鈥檚 an existing business name on the register named 鈥楰itchen Chef鈥�.
Based on the rules set out in the Names Determination, any capitals or punctuation are disregarded. The plural forms 鈥榗hefs鈥� and 鈥榢itchens鈥� are also disregarded. This leaves 鈥榗hef kitchen鈥� in one name and 鈥榢itchen chef鈥� in the other name.
The order of words in the names is also to be disregarded and; therefore, 鈥榗hef kitchen鈥� and 鈥榢itchen chef鈥� are identical.听 Rob would not be able to register 鈥楥hef鈥檚 Kitchens鈥� because of the existing business name.
Matters to be considered - words and expressions taken to be the same
When comparing a business name with another name, certain words and expressions are taken to be the same as other words or expressions.
The Names Determination includes a schedule that lists items, or groups, of words and expressions that are taken to be the same as each other word or expression in that item.
The list of items in schedule 1 is exhaustive, meaning that it only applies to the words or expressions that appear in that list.听 Some examples of those items are:
|
Item |
Words and expressions |
|
111 |
bakehouse, bakery, bakers |
|
120 |
carpenters, carpentry, carpentry services, carpentry solution |
|
156 |
pizza, pizza bar, pizzeria |
|
171 |
&, and |
|
198 |
mechanic, mechanical, mechanical repairs, mechanical services, mechanics |
This means that when comparing business names, a name such as 鈥楩resh Bread Bakehouse鈥� is considered identical or nearly identical to 鈥楩resh Bread Bakery鈥� because 鈥榖akehouse鈥� and 鈥榖akery鈥� appear in the same item.
Likewise, 鈥楳ike鈥檚 Pizza鈥� is identical or nearly identical to 鈥楳ike鈥檚 Pizza Bar鈥�. However, it would not be identical to 鈥楳ike鈥檚 Pizza and Pasta Bar鈥� because 鈥楶izza and Pasta Bar鈥� is not listed in the same item as 鈥楶izza Bar鈥�.
Matters to be considered - pronunciation听
Your proposed business name will be checked to see if it can be pronounced the same as another name on the register. This is done using the literal transcription of the proposed business name and the names against which it is being compared.
For example, the following names may be pronounced the same and are considered to be identical or nearly identical:
- 'Creative@Work鈥� is the same as 鈥楰re8tive at Work鈥�
- 鈥�100% Cats鈥� is the same as 鈥�100 percent Kats鈥�
- 鈥楧ollar Shop鈥� is the same as 鈥�$ shop鈥�
- 鈥楬are of the Dog' is the same as 'Hair of the Dog'
- 'Colour in' is the same as 'Colour Inn'
- 鈥楰atz Hair Dressing鈥� is the same as 鈥楰at鈥檚 Hair Dressing鈥�