I have some friends who run a small, but successful family business and have been doing so for approx 10 years. In is a partnership rather than a limited company and the partnership name is registered with the CRO as a business name.
As I dont want to disclose the partnerships real name, lets say they are called "ABCDE Services".
Recently, a competitor who operates nearby registered "ABCDE Services" as a business name in his own name/address. This competitor has done this with mallicious intent. While his own business continues under its original name etc., he has sent letters and circulated documentation under the name "ABCDE Services" which has caused confusion among potential customers and lost business for the genuine "ABCDE Services".
My friends have contacted the CRO over this and the reply from the CRO has been that there is no law against people registering business names that are already in use. The CRO online register shows "ABCDE Services" listed twice, albeit with different registration numbers. They subsequently contacted the Office of Corporate Enforcement and the reply from them that this is not against the law. They've sent the usual cease and desist type letter by solicitor, but got a reply from competitor to the effect that he did not care and wasnt breaking any company law.
This is a small family business without the resources to engage in costly legal action and even if they won, collection may be an issue - competitors business is also small.
Has anyone any advice on how to deal with this situation? CRO seem powerless to do anything, is there any other laws that have been broken and can be used to stop the competitor?
As I dont want to disclose the partnerships real name, lets say they are called "ABCDE Services".
Recently, a competitor who operates nearby registered "ABCDE Services" as a business name in his own name/address. This competitor has done this with mallicious intent. While his own business continues under its original name etc., he has sent letters and circulated documentation under the name "ABCDE Services" which has caused confusion among potential customers and lost business for the genuine "ABCDE Services".
My friends have contacted the CRO over this and the reply from the CRO has been that there is no law against people registering business names that are already in use. The CRO online register shows "ABCDE Services" listed twice, albeit with different registration numbers. They subsequently contacted the Office of Corporate Enforcement and the reply from them that this is not against the law. They've sent the usual cease and desist type letter by solicitor, but got a reply from competitor to the effect that he did not care and wasnt breaking any company law.
This is a small family business without the resources to engage in costly legal action and even if they won, collection may be an issue - competitors business is also small.
Has anyone any advice on how to deal with this situation? CRO seem powerless to do anything, is there any other laws that have been broken and can be used to stop the competitor?