If a company name is being used in the US can I use it in the UK?

Question

It is a similar kind of company but they don;t seem to be doing much (the website has not been updated for ages and I can't find anything else about them)

Answer 1

Approach with extreme caution - the Americans have a tendency to go to litigation at the drop of a hat.  Because a website seems abandoned [not updated for a long time] does not mean a company has gone out of biz.  The owner may simply have shut up shop but still owns the name.

There has been an ongoing battle between Budweiser in the USA and the original [Medieval] Budweiser in the Czech Republic - not sure if that's over yet or who is winning.

Best advice is to do a webcheck via Companies House here in uk. . . .

Companies House with our WebCHeck service · more WebCHeck information here. companies house direct. a subscription company search service ...

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

WebCHeck - Select and Access Company InformationThe WebCHeck service offers a searchable Company Names and Address Index free of charge which enables you to search for information on more than 2 million ...

http://www.wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/

Maybe this next site will help . . . .

NYPL, Searching for Company InformationIndex · Is the company U.S. or foreign-owned? Is the company private or public? What type of business is it? Why am I not finding my company? ...

http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/compan...

GET A LOAD OF THIS - A TAX LOOPHOLE

Company Registration in USA, Incorporate an Offshore LLC in US for ...American offshore companies can be set up by non resident and non citizen of USA. Offshore company in USA does not have to pay taxes in the US in case both ...

http://www.us-llc-for-non-residents-of-t...

Answer 2

check whether they have it copywrited or trademarked. if not, then yes you can. but if they are a similar type of company, maybe go for a different name. they may have been useless, you don't want people thinking that you are part of the same company.