The Company Names Tribunal

Adjudicating on opportunistic company name registrations

Company names adjudicators will deal only with disputes about opportunistic company name registrations; that is, solely with applications (complaints) made under sections 69(1)(a) and (b) of the Companies Act 2006. These sections provide for complaints by businesses or persons who have a goodwill or reputation associated with a name and where that name (or a similar name likely to suggest a connection with the complainant) has been opportunistically registered as a company name by someone else with a view to obtaining money from the complainant, or to prevent the complainant from registering the name.

Company names adjudicators cannot deal with cases where someone feels that another company name registration is too similar to, or ‘too like’, their own company name but where there is no suspected opportunism behind the registration. These sorts of disputes or complaints are dealt with by Companies House .

No applications can be made before 1 October 2008. Any applications made prior to this date will be returned to the applicant.

Questions about The Company Names Tribunal

If you have any questions about the Company Names Tribunal you can contact our Central Enquiry Unit on +44(0) 8459 500 505 before you apply.

Please note that staff in this unit are not qualified to say if you could win your case or provide advice on specific applications that are already before the Tribunal.

You may also email the Tribunal Section, at cna@ipo.gov.uk with any questions that you may have which are not covered by the existing information on the web site.