Australia: “identical” means more than you think

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) refuses a company name only if it is identical to a name already registered or reserved. That sounds permissive. It is less so in practice, because ASIC's comparison rules strip out so much before comparing that names which look different on paper count as identical.

Two registers, one test

Australia keeps a company register and a separate business names register, both run by ASIC. A proposed company name is compared against both. A company that trades under anything other than its exact legal name must also register that as a business name. Neither register gives trademark rights, which come from IP Australia.

What ASIC ignores when comparing names

ASIC's published rules say that, when testing whether names are identical, it disregards:

Comparison rules from ASIC's guidance on acceptable company names. The examples are ASIC's own, except the Pty Ltd row, which is illustrative.
Ignored	Example of names treated as identical
The articles “the”, “a” and “an”	“A Bird in Hand”, “The Bird in Hand”, “Bird in Hand”
Legal status terms: Proprietary, Pty, Limited, Ltd, No Liability, NL	“Northwind Pty Ltd” and “Northwind Limited”
Singular versus plural	“The Child Garden” and “The Children Gardens”
Font, capitals, accents, spaces and punctuation	“Australian Holiday Apartments!” and “australianholidayapartments”
Listed alternative words	Australian/Aust, Company/Co/Coy, Number/No, And/&, Incorporated/Inc, Corporation/Corp, and others

After that reduction, two names that match exactly are identical, and the later one is refused. Names that differ by a single real word are usually accepted, even where they would confuse customers. ASIC's test, like the UK and US tests, is a register check and not a trademark assessment.

The required ending

Most Australian companies are proprietary companies limited by shares, and their names end in Pty Ltd. The rules are:

A proprietary company must include “Proprietary” or “Pty”.
A company with limited liability must end with “Limited” or “Ltd”.
A mining no-liability public company uses “No Liability” or “NL”.

A company that does not choose a name is known by its Australian Company Number. ASIC adds the legal ending, giving something like “ACN 123 456 789 Pty Ltd”. This is the Australian equivalent of a numbered company, and it is a sensible choice if you want to incorporate now and decide the brand later.

Characters you can use

ASIC accepts the English alphabet only, without accented letters, plus numbers, spaces, common punctuation and a short list of symbols such as &, @, $ and %. A brand that relies on accented letters or non-Latin characters will need a plain version for the register.

Restricted and unacceptable names

Some words need consent before ASIC will register a name containing them, and that consent must be obtained before applying. ASIC warns that this can take two months or more. The restricted words fall into three groups:

Consent from ASIC itself, for words including Chartered, Consumer, Co-operative, Executor, Guarantee, Incorporated, Made in Australia, Police, RSL, Stock Exchange, Trust and Trustee, Chamber of Commerce, and terms relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.
Consent from a named minister, for Anzac (Veterans' Affairs), Red Cross and related emblems (Defence), United Nations (Foreign Affairs) and University (Education).
Consent from APRA, the prudential regulator, for bank, banker, banking, building society, credit union, credit society, ADI and similar terms.

Separately, ASIC will not register names that suggest a connection with a government, royal patronage or an ex-service organisation that does not exist, or that are likely to offend. “Commonwealth” and “Federal” are refused unless ASIC accepts that they refer to a place.

Reserving a name

You can reserve an available name for two months by lodging Form 410, and extend the reservation by applying before it expires. Fees for reservations, registrations and business names are indexed each 1 July and published on ASIC's fees pages. Check the current figure there, not in a guide.

Business names and trade marks

Registering a company or business name does not give you a trade mark. IP Australia's guidance is explicit on this, and it is a common and expensive misunderstanding. Someone with a registered trade mark can stop you trading under a name ASIC accepted without hesitation. Search the Australian Trade Mark Search database before you commit, and read why identical is the wrong test. Trade mark conflicts turn on similarity, not identity.

Questions

A business name identical to my proposed company name exists. Can I still register?

Not as a company name, unless you hold the business name yourself or meet ASIC's conditions for using an existing business name, for example where the holder becomes a director or member of the new company. Otherwise, choose a different name.

Does ASIC check trade marks?

No. ASIC compares names against its own registers. Checking trade marks is your responsibility, and registration of the company is no defence to an infringement claim.

Can I object to a company name someone else registered?

ASIC can direct a company to change a name that should not have been registered, and complaints about business names have their own procedure. Where the problem is that the other business is trading under a name confusing with yours, the relevant routes are usually trade mark infringement or consumer law, not the company register.

Published 2026-10-18 and checked against ASIC's published rules for acceptable company names and its forms and fees pages. Fees are indexed annually and lists of restricted words change. Confirm with ASIC before lodging. Not legal advice.