So you have chosen your company name, only to discover that the Companies Registration Office will not accept it as it is already registered! If only you knew this before!
We have the answer. We have a live search tool on our website where you can search the availability of your name, and it will immediately tell you if it is available or not. We are delighted to announce a new facility on our website where anyone can search for the availability of a Limited Company name. A Limited company name cannot be registered in Ireland if it is similar to another name. There are some restrictions on your choice of company name.
The Company Registrations Office Ireland may have to refuse a name if:
• it is identical to or too similar to a name already appearing on the register of companies
• it is offensive
• it would suggest state sponsorship
The following guidelines will assist you in assessing the acceptability or otherwise of company names:
It is generally recommended that company names include extra words so as to create a sufficient distinction between names. Certain words and their abbreviations together with accents and punctuation marks are not sufficient to distinguish between company names. Examples of such words include the definite article and the words “company”, “co”, “corporation”, “and”, “&”, “service”, “services” ,“limited”, etc. Place names are not considered to be a sufficient distinction between company names, e.g Ireland, Dublin, West, etc.
Similar descriptive elements, e.g. press/printing, staff/employment agency, or the inclusion of only a general or weak qualification such as “holding”, “group”, “system”, “services”, “international”, etc. may not be regarded as a sufficient distinction between company names.
Particular care should be taken with names considered to have a distinctive element i.e. names consisting primarily of made-up words or non-dictionary words. The inclusion of qualifying words may not be sufficient to create a distinction between company names. The use of a year in numerals to differentiate between two companies of otherwise the same name can also be refused.
Remember, you can contact us if you need help with this process. We invite you to try the tool on our homepage.