Intellectual property
Someone is using my business name or logo: what next?
Found another business using a name or logo close to yours? MAKIN Advisory can help you assess your rights, preserve the right evidence and choose a proportionate response before the dispute becomes harder to manage.
Protect your position before escalating the dispute
Discovering a competing brand can be frustrating, especially after you have invested in building recognition. The first step is to establish what is happening and which rights may support a response. Similar-looking names do not automatically establish infringement, and an angry demand can make a commercial resolution more difficult.
How we can assist
Review your trade mark registrations, brand history and relevant agreements.
Assess the other business’s use and the commercial overlap.
Identify evidence gaps and practical steps to preserve your position.
Advise on correspondence, negotiation and possible resolution options.
Review a demand received from another rights holder and explain the issues it raises.
What information is useful?
Start with the names involved, relevant websites, a short chronology and any deadline. Preserve dated screenshots showing the actual use, including the page address and surrounding context. Keep copies of genuine customer confusion or misdirected enquiries without encouraging people to manufacture examples. Your registration details, earlier branding and designer agreements may help establish the history.
Provide a brief initial enquiry rather than a large bundle of confidential material. We can identify the documents needed once the proposed work is understood.
Discuss a business-name or logo dispute
Choose a response that serves the business
The commercial objective may be to stop a particular use, separate the brands, secure a change to packaging or agree a transition. Those outcomes are different from proving every possible legal allegation. A proportionate strategy considers the strength of the rights, the effect on customers and the cost of pursuing the issue.
If you receive a demand, do not assume registration of your own business name answers it. Equally, a strongly worded letter is not a court finding. Preserve the letter and its deadline, avoid admissions and arrange an assessment before promising changes that could disrupt the business.
Brand dispute FAQs
Is a similar name automatically an infringement?
No. The relevant rights, marks, goods or services, actual use and surrounding circumstances need assessment. A side-by-side comparison of logos is only one part of the analysis.
Can I take action without a registered trade mark?
Possibly. Depending on the facts, other rights or claims may be relevant, including copyright, passing off or misleading conduct. They have different requirements. The absence of registration does not settle every issue, but it may change the evidence and options available.
Should I send a cease-and-desist letter myself?
Get advice before making legal threats. A demand should be based on an identifiable right and an accurate account of the conduct. Overstating the position may create additional risk and make sensible negotiations harder.
What if the other business used the name first?
Timing can matter. Establish when each party started using the relevant branding, what they used and in which activities or markets. A recent registration certificate does not remove the need to investigate earlier rights.
Can the dispute be resolved without court?
Sometimes. A negotiated change, licence or carefully defined coexistence arrangement may be worth exploring where commercially and legally appropriate. The objective is a workable resolution, not an automatic commitment to litigation.
What affects the cost of advice?
The rights involved, volume of evidence, urgency and whether the work is limited to an initial assessment or includes negotiation all affect scope and cost. Tell us what has happened and what outcome matters to you so the proposed work can be discussed.
Get clear on your next move
MAKIN Advisory assists Gold Coast and Brisbane clients remotely, with meetings by appointment. Request advice about brand misuse or email sam@makinadvisory.com.au.
Related: Australian trade mark applications and licensing agreements. Official background: Australian Government IP guidance.
Tell us what you need help with
Tell us briefly what you need help with and any relevant deadline. Please do not include sensitive documents in your initial enquiry.