Registering a Business Name

Registering a Business Name

A business name is simply a name or title under which a person, or other legal entity, trades. It not only identifies you to your customers, but also allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors and enables your customers to make an emotional connection to your business and brand.

When setting up your business, if you choose to operate as a sole trader, partnership or a trust, and not as a company, then you will have to register your business name  with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).   If your business name is your, or your partner’s, first name and surname, then there is no need to register.

You must Search IP Australia’s trade marks databases at www.ipaustralia.gov.au to check whether your proposed business name is not the same as one already being used as a trade mark.

*Information from business.gov.au

The normal steps in Registering a Business Name are:

• Fill in the application form with the basic details of the business, e.g. the address of the business, the names and addresses of the owners and the proposed name of the business.
• Pay the fee.
• If the name is available it will be registered and you will be sent a certificate.
• There are more formal rules for registering a company – we cover these in another fact sheet.