What’s a company name?
A company name is the name of the entity that appears on all official documents or legal papers and can be different from your business name. The legal name will be your full company name including proprietary limited (PTY LTD or any variation). This name will be established through company registration.
If you want to use your company name without the legal element (eg Pty Ltd), you will need to register this as a business name
For instance, if your company is registered as "Tracy’s Tutoring Pty Ltd," you may also wish to acquire ownership of the business name "Tracy’s Tutoring."
What is a business name?
A business name (previously known as a trading name) is an alternative name to operate your business under. A business name is registered to an ABN (Australian Business Number) and you will required to register a different ABN for each business structure i.e. sole trader, company and partnership.
Do I need to register my business name?
If you want your business to trade under a name that is different from your legal name, then you’ll have to register a business name. A business can own multiple business names linked under the one ABN.
Here are some examples of when you should register your business name:
A proprietary limited company is registered with ASIC under its legal name Aaron Anderson Pty Ltd. The company wants to operate under the name ‘AZ Solutions’, so it must be registered as a separate business name.
Tessa Kaur owns a florist business as a sole trader. Her legal name is Tessa Kaur and she wants her business to be known as Kaur’s Flowers.
Sean Smith and Dominic Jones run a building business together, operating as a partnership. Their partnership’s legal name is S. Smith and D. Johnson and they want their business to be known as Sean and Dom’s Building. Therefore, they will need to register a business name.
Here are examples of when you don’t need to register a business name:
Carol Sheaves runs a bookkeeping business and operates as a sole trader. Her legal name is Carol Sheaves. Because she is happy to operate her business as a sole trader under her legal name, she doesn’t have to register her business name.
William Davis and Geoff Nakami have a panelbeating business together, operating as a partnership. Their partnership’s legal name is W. Davis and G. Nakami. They are happy to operate under their legal name, using all of the partners’ names, so they don’t need to register a business name.
Indra Toor is the director of the company "Toor Essentials Pty Ltd", and will only refer to the business and company with full title, including Pty Ltd.
Can I Update My Business Name Once It’s Registered?
You can’t update a registered business name, even if you only want to make a slight change to it. If you want to trade under a different business name, you must register a new one. You will be required to renew your business name every year and pay a fee to ASIC.
For more information on how to transfer a business name, you can refer to this article:
Do I Have To Register My Business Name In Each State and Territory?
No. You only have to register your business name once. After that, your name is registered nationally.
When I register my business name, is it protected by a trademark too?
No. Registering your business name doesn’t give you any exclusive trading, branding or ownership rights over that name. Only a trademark can offer that kind of protection.
No. Registering your business name doesn’t give you any exclusive trading, branding or ownership rights over that name. Only a trademark can offer that kind of protection.
Even though registering your business name means it’s registered nationally and stops others from registering, it doesn’t mean that another business can’t operate with a similar name.
If you require exclusive trading or branding rights for your business name, consider registering your trademark through Lawpath. You can access the 'Registrations' section in your Lawpath account or click this link - Lawpath Trademark Registration for assistance.