WHAT IS ‘PASSING OFF?’

The law of passing off stands to protect a trader’s goodwill and business against copying by another business, company or individual, whether intentional or not. . If there is a chance current or potential future customers could confuse their business for yours, it is likely there would be a case of passing off.

WHY DO I NEED IT?

With over 10 million businesses in the UK, and thousands of new businesses forming every month, the likeliness of someone else having a similar/same business name to you is increasingly likely. Can you afford to lose trade to competitors, which might be attracting business because of your reputation?

I’VE BEEN TRADING FOR YEARS, WHY REGISTER NOW?

You may not have experienced passing off to date, but that does not make it any less likely. With the rapid rate of new businesses starting up, can you afford the time to investigate, source reliable representation, and stump up the legal costs that would incur to oppose someone passing off as your business?

WHAT IF I DON’T REGISTER, BUT I HAVE A CASE OF PASSING OFF?

Your rights don’t change, you can still pursue the opposing enterprise you believe are passing off as your business. However, financially this is likely to cost you £10,000s if not £100,000‘s to take it to court. Emotionally, you may have to personally engage directly with the owner of the opposed enterprise, while also research and provide all the proof and data require to build a case.

NBR will only support those businesses that have an active registration at the time of passing off being recognised and cannot enforce our service retrospectively, which would become clear upon investigation, whereby opposing parties can have cases dismissed.

This is why we strongly suggest you register your business name at the earliest possible stage.

AREN’T LIMITED BUSINESS NAMES PROTECTED BY COMPANIES HOUSE?

Companies House does not allow a ‘carbon copy’ of a business name. However, ‘passing off’ is not limited to exact name copying, for example there could be 2 limited businesses registered on Companies House with confusingly similar name i.e. ‘Excelsior Roofers Ltd’ and ‘Excelsior Roofing & Maintenance Ltd’. Should these businesses overlap in services and trading region, there would likely be a case of passing off.

HOW DO I REGISTER?

Simply complete this short form.
Once submitted, our dedicated expert team will review your application and complete the relevant name checks and be in touch with your registration confirmation within 2 working days.