UK business name checklist

Say it out loud to someone and ask them to spell it.

If they get it wrong, so will customers typing it into a browser. Creative spellings, digits and silent letters all fail this “radio test”.

Write it as a domain with the spaces removed.

Words that run together can read very differently. Check it before someone else notices.

Check what it means in other languages.

Especially any market you may sell into. A quick search of the word plus “meaning” is the minimum.

Ask whether it could be trademarked at all.

Purely descriptive names (“London Plumbing Services”) are easy to understand and almost impossible to own. Distinctive names can be protected.

Check the name is not the “same as” an existing company.

Companies House ignores punctuation, “Ltd”, “UK”, “.com” and other words when comparing. A name that looks different may be identical to the registrar.

Look for “too like” names in your industry.

An existing company can object within twelve months and force you to change. A near miss in the same sector is the one that gets objected to.

Scan for sensitive words.

“Bank”, “royal”, “institute”, “chartered”, “British” and dozens more need a letter of approval from a named body before the registrar will accept them.

Check dissolved matches for insolvency history.

Reusing the name of a company that went through insolvency can create personal liability for its former directors. The check flags these separately.

Work out which trademark classes your business falls into.

Goods and services are grouped into 45 classes. A conflict only matters in classes related to yours.

Screen the name for identical and similar live marks in those classes.

Similar means looks like or sounds like, not just spelled the same. “Kwik” and “Quick” are the same mark to an examiner.

Search the web for anyone already trading under the name in your sector.

Unregistered rights (“passing off”) exist without a trademark. An established business with customers can still stop you.

If anything looks close, get a clearance opinion before spending on the brand.

An hour of a trademark attorney’s time is cheaper than a rebrand. Pre-screening tools, this one included, are not legal advice.

Decide which domain extensions are must-haves, and check them.

For most UK businesses that is .co.uk and possibly .com. Treat a taken must-have as a conflict, not a compromise.

Check the handles on the platforms your customers actually use.

Consistency matters more than coverage. Register the ones you will use the week you decide, before someone else does.