The worst time to find out your business name has a problem is after the van is wrapped. We’ve seen owners discover a trade mark conflict when a lawyer’s letter arrives, find the matching domain is held by someone interstate, or realise that customers can’t spell the name when they hear it over the phone.
All of those are avoidable with an afternoon of checks, done in this order: say the name out loud, search the ASIC business names register, search IP Australia’s trade marks, Google it properly, check the .com.au domain, check social handles, then test it in the real world. Do them on a shortlist of three to five names, not just your favourite, so you have somewhere to go when one fails. And do them before any money goes on design, printing or signage.
This is general information, not legal advice. If anything below turns up a possible conflict, talk to a trade mark attorney or lawyer before going further.
Check 1: Say it out loud
Start here because it’s free and it kills more names than any register.
The phone test. Ring a friend and say “Hi, it’s Sam from [name]”. Then ask them to write it down. If they spell it wrong, customers will search for it wrong. Creative spellings (Kwik, Xpress, Phlo) cost you every time someone hears the name rather than reads it.
The radio test. Could someone remember it after hearing it once, while driving? Long names and strings of initials struggle.
The email test. Write it as an email address: sam@yourname.com.au. Is it short enough to read out? Does it create an unfortunate word when the spaces are removed? Plenty of names that look fine with spaces don’t survive this.
The growth test. Would the name still fit if you added a service, moved town or hired staff? “Lennox Lawn Mowing” is clear today and awkward the day you start doing landscaping in Ballina.
The meaning test. Search the word in other languages your customers might speak, and in slang. You’d be surprised.
Check 2: The ASIC business names register
If you trade under any name that isn’t your own personal name (or your company’s exact name), you generally need to register it as a business name with ASIC. You need an ABN first.
Search the register (through ASIC’s search, or ABN Lookup) for your name and close variations. ASIC won’t register a name that’s identical or nearly identical to one already on the register, so this will tell you quickly if the exact name is taken.
At the time of writing (late 2026), business.gov.au lists the ASIC fee as $47 for one year or $108 for three years. Fees are indexed, so check the current amount when you apply.
One thing catches people out constantly: the same page states that registering a business name doesn’t give you exclusive rights to use it. It’s a register of who is trading under what name, not a form of ownership. Someone with an earlier trade mark can still stop you using a name ASIC happily registered for you.
Check 3: Trade marks with IP Australia
This is the check that matters most, and the one most often skipped.
IP Australia has two free tools:
- TM Checker, which uses AI to give you a quick read on whether a word or logo is likely to face problems if you apply for it. It doesn’t need an account.
- Australian Trade Mark Search, which lists registered and pending marks, the owner and the classes of goods and services they cover. IP Australia explains both on its search existing trade marks page.
When you search, don’t just look for exact matches. Look for names that sound similar, look similar or mean the same thing, used for the same or related goods and services. A registered “Coastal Sparks” for electrical services is a real problem for “Coastline Sparky”, even though the words are different. The same word used for a completely unrelated industry may be fine.
Also check whether your name is mostly descriptive (“Ballina Plumbing”, “Quality Building Services”). Descriptive names are hard or impossible to register as trade marks, which means you can’t stop competitors using something similar. We cover this in trade marks for small businesses.
Note what these searches don’t cover. They only show registered and pending marks. Someone could have been using a name for years without registering it and still have rights. That’s where the next two checks help.
Check 4: Google it properly
Search the name in quotes, then with your town, then with your industry. Then search Google Maps, Facebook and Instagram for it.
You’re looking for:
- another business using the same or a similar name in your industry anywhere in Australia, registered or not
- a business with a bad reputation or news coverage under that name
- a name so common that you’ll never rank for it (if the first page is a famous brand, a song or a suburb, you’re starting behind)
If a similar business in another state shows up, that isn’t automatically a deal breaker, but it is worth a conversation with a trade mark attorney before you commit.
Check 5: Domain names
For most Australian small businesses the domain you want is the .com.au, with the .au direct version as a second choice or as a backup to register alongside it.
auDA, which runs the .au space, sets out the eligibility and allocation rules for .com.au. In short:
- you need an Australian presence, usually an active ABN or ACN
- the domain must connect to you: an exact match or acronym of your business, company or personal name, a match of your registered trade mark, or a match or synonym of a product or service you provide
- names are allocated first come, first served
The .au direct names (like yourname.au) only require an Australian presence and don’t need to connect to a business name.
Practical checks: can you get the .com.au exactly as the name is spelt? If it’s taken, is the holder an active business (bad sign) or nobody at all? Avoid hyphens if you can, because nobody says “dash” correctly over the phone. Register it in your own business’s details, not your web developer’s (we explain why in owning your website and domain). We cover renewals and the scam invoices that follow in .com.au domains: the rules, renewals and scams.
Check 6: Social handles
Check Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn. You want the same handle everywhere if you can get it. If the exact name is gone, a consistent variation (@yournamebyron, @yourname.co) is fine, as long as it’s the same variation on every platform.
If the exact handle is held by a business in your industry, go back to Check 3 and Check 4. That’s a sign someone else is already trading on it.
Check 7: The real-world test
Before you commit, see it in context:
- type it as a sign on a ute and squint at it from across the room
- put it in a Google search result layout next to your competitors
- write the sentence “I got [name] in to fix it” and see if it sounds like something a customer would say
- tell five people from your target market, and listen to how they repeat it back
Once a name passes
Register the business name, the domains and the social handles on the same day, so nobody beats you to the obvious ones. Then think seriously about applying for a trade mark before you spend real money on signage and vehicles. The registration is what gives you rights in the name, not the ASIC entry.
Only after that should design start. A shortlist of two or three names that have passed all seven checks is a good point to get in touch for an outside opinion. You can also read how we approach branding and logo design for new businesses.