- Original Poster
- #1
Hello,
Looking for a bit of advice/clarification.
I have an online small florist business that I run in the UK only with no physical store. I do not trade in any other countries than the UK and never will. I’ve been trading for 4 years as a sole trader so not registered my business on companies house as a ltd company.
My business name that I trade under is a registered trademarked which I own. I also own the website domain of my trademarked business name but only the co.uk. No one else in the UK is trading using the same business name.
The business name example ‘Fiona floral flowers’ (apologies is this in someone’s actual business name I’ve used as an example!).
There is another company in the US who trades under the same name as me and in the same industry, however we are very different florists and obviously both only trade in our own countries so there isn’t any confusion. If there were to be any confusion it would realistically be on my end with my customers as the US company owns the .com domain whereas their customers wouldn’t be entering co.uk. The US company is also a small business who only trade in the state they are established in- they don’t trade throughout the US or any other country. They simply trade within their state eg. Texas and are more of a local florist/physical store. They have been trading longer than I have. They haven’t trademarked the name in the US.
Only I own the trademark to the business name but this is only registered in the UK. My business name isn’t trademarked elsewhere in the world either - only the UK and by me.
Am I right that this is no problem?
I’ve had no dealings or issues with the other company, I have no problem at all as we are totally different countries and florists so I’m not wanting to gain the .com domain or anything. Nor do I wish to register my trademark in any other country. I was always under the understanding that you can trade under the same name as others in other countries (provided they don’t own the trademark in the country I trade in). I didn’t choose my business name based on the US company. I simply want clarification that I’m not doing anything wrong! Thank you
Looking for a bit of advice/clarification.
I have an online small florist business that I run in the UK only with no physical store. I do not trade in any other countries than the UK and never will. I’ve been trading for 4 years as a sole trader so not registered my business on companies house as a ltd company.
My business name that I trade under is a registered trademarked which I own. I also own the website domain of my trademarked business name but only the co.uk. No one else in the UK is trading using the same business name.
The business name example ‘Fiona floral flowers’ (apologies is this in someone’s actual business name I’ve used as an example!).
There is another company in the US who trades under the same name as me and in the same industry, however we are very different florists and obviously both only trade in our own countries so there isn’t any confusion. If there were to be any confusion it would realistically be on my end with my customers as the US company owns the .com domain whereas their customers wouldn’t be entering co.uk. The US company is also a small business who only trade in the state they are established in- they don’t trade throughout the US or any other country. They simply trade within their state eg. Texas and are more of a local florist/physical store. They have been trading longer than I have. They haven’t trademarked the name in the US.
Only I own the trademark to the business name but this is only registered in the UK. My business name isn’t trademarked elsewhere in the world either - only the UK and by me.
Am I right that this is no problem?
I’ve had no dealings or issues with the other company, I have no problem at all as we are totally different countries and florists so I’m not wanting to gain the .com domain or anything. Nor do I wish to register my trademark in any other country. I was always under the understanding that you can trade under the same name as others in other countries (provided they don’t own the trademark in the country I trade in). I didn’t choose my business name based on the US company. I simply want clarification that I’m not doing anything wrong! Thank you
