If you are working out how to choose a business name that isn’t already taken in Australia, run four free checks before you pay for a logo or signage: the ASIC business names register, IP Australia’s trade mark register, the .au domain, and the social media handles. Then test how the name sounds and reads in the other languages your customers speak. ASIC saying a name is available only means ASIC will register it. It does not give you the right to stop anyone else, and it does not check trade marks, which is why business.gov.au warns that you can’t use a business name someone else has registered as a trade mark. xCreative™ is a Melbourne creative agency in Chadstone that has named and branded businesses and property developments in English and Chinese since 2016. These are the checks we run on every shortlist, in the order we run them.
A name is easier to clear when you know what it is for. The business.gov.au guide to choosing a business name asks for something short, easy to say and spell, and different enough from similar businesses that customers won’t confuse you. It also suggests asking whether the name is too tied to one product or place if you might expand later. A cafe named after its street has a problem the day a second site opens two suburbs away.
We add a phone test. Say the name once to someone who has never heard it, and ask them to spell it back and recall it the next day. On our brand naming page we explain a few of ours: Quercus is Latin for oak, and Kingsley fuses Kingsway and Glen Waverley, as in Kingsley Apartments.
Check one: how ASIC decides a name is identical
Most owners search the ASIC register, see no exact match and assume the name is free. ASIC compares names more broadly than that. Its rules for acceptable business names say a new name is refused if it is identical or nearly identical to a registered name, and they list what is ignored in the comparison:
- Singular and plural forms, so “The Child Garden” and “The Children Gardens” count as the same.
- The words “the” and “a”, along with capital letters and punctuation.
- Word order for business names, so “Green House” and “House Green” are identical.
- Web elements such as www and com.
- Words ASIC treats as equivalent, such as bakehouse, bakery and bakers, and names that sound the same even when they are spelt differently.
Two other rules catch owners out. ASIC does not accept accented letters, so a brand that uses a macron or accent on its signage needs a plain spelling for the register. Some words also need consent, and ASIC notes that state laws may restrict terms such as “Architect” and “Builder”. If you run a building company, read our notes on construction branding and confirm the licensing rules in your state before you put the word in the name.
Check two: trade marks, which ASIC never looks at
ASIC checks its own registers and nothing else. A name can be registered with ASIC and still infringe a trade mark, and the business.gov.au page on business names and trade marks explains that only the trade mark gives exclusive rights. IP Australia’s free TM Checker shows whether similar marks already exist, and the Australian Trade Mark Search lets you read each record, including the owner and the classes of goods and services it covers.
Search the words customers would actually hear, not only the spelling you prefer. A trade mark for a soundalike word in your class is a problem even if your ASIC search came back clear. Our earlier piece, should I trade mark my logo, covers what happens after the name clears, from word marks versus logo marks to the TM and R symbols. For anything with real money behind it, a trade mark attorney should run the formal search.
Check three: the domain, and the .au rules under review
Under the current .au Licensing Rules, a .com.au domain needs an Australian presence and a commercial entity, and the name has to connect to the holder’s legal name, registered business name or trade mark, or to the name of a service, product, event or premises. That last pathway lets a business hold a domain for a product or event name it never registered.
That may change. auDA’s Licensing Rules Review page, last updated on 19 October 2026, says its board approved the review panel’s recommendations in principle in August. The panel recommended limiting new .com.au and .net.au domains to a match of a personal name, a registered name or a registered Australian trade mark. auDA says existing licences would continue under the current rules, no final decision has been made, and public consultation is planned for later this year. Its status update of 25 September adds that there is no current or proposed requirement to hold an identical business name to keep a domain.
For someone choosing a name now, the practical step is the same whichever way the review lands. Register the business name with ASIC and the matching domain together, so the domain is tied to a registered name from day one. Owning the domain does not protect the name either: business.gov.au notes that a domain gives you no intellectual property rights, and using one that matches someone else’s trade mark can lead to legal action.
Check four: social handles and meaning in other languages
Search the name on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok, plus any platform your customers use, such as Xiaohongshu for Chinese-speaking buyers. A close handle held by an active business in your industry is a warning sign even when ASIC and IP Australia are clear, because customers will find that account first.
business.gov.au also tells owners to check whether a name has a negative meaning in other languages or cultures. The check matters in Melbourne, where many customers read English and another language. We screen every shortlist for meaning and pronunciation in English and Chinese. Sometimes the second language gives the idea: JIAO ZI is the pinyin for dumpling. Our Chinese marketing page explains how we carry a name into both languages after it is chosen.
The order we run the checks in
Run the checks before design starts, not after. Our order is: build a long list from real routes such as meaning or place, cut any name that fails the trade mark search, then check ASIC and the domain with the handles, then test meaning and pronunciation in every language that matters. Only the survivors reach the shortlist, and only the chosen name goes to logo design. On our naming projects this takes two to four weeks including screening.
The order matters because, as business.gov.au points out, a registered business name can’t be changed. A business that finds a conflict after launch registers a new name, cancels the old one, and reprints everything with the logo on it. If you have a shortlist and want it screened, our brand naming agency page explains how we work, or you can get in touch and send the names through.
Frequently asked questions
Does registering a business name with ASIC protect it?
No. ASIC registration lets you trade under the name and stops someone registering an identical name on the ASIC register. It does not stop a similar name, and it does not check trade marks. Exclusive rights come from a registered trade mark through IP Australia.
Can two businesses have the same name in Australia?
Two businesses cannot both register identical or nearly identical names with ASIC, and ASIC counts plurals and soundalikes as matches when it compares them. Similar names can still be registered, so a trade mark search is the better test of whether a name is really free.
Should I buy the .com.au before I register the business name?
Register them together. A .com.au has to connect to a name you hold, and auDA is reviewing rules that would limit new domains to registered names and trade marks. Holding the registered business name alongside the domain keeps it eligible under either version of the rules.
