What is a commercial name?

Commercial name is a name of a subject of business activity that enables us to distinguish one person from others and does not mislead consumers as to its actual activity.

The subject of a business activity can be either a legal entity, or an and individual entrepreneur.

In practice a commercial name is also frequently referred to as a firm name.

Commercial name can actually be:

1.  Name of a legal entity according to its incorporation documents. For example - Limited Liability Company "Rassvet". As a rule a full name is used in official documents, where it is necessary according to the legislation. But protection is also granted to a short name. In the present example - the name "Rassvet".

2.  Name or surname of an individual entrepreneur.

3.  Name, under which a business entity carries out a certain activity, even if it is not consistent with the name of a legal entity or the name and surname of an entrepreneur. For example - TV Channel "Inter".

ONE SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT that a commercial name may either indicate or not indicate the line of activity of its owner, but it should not mislead consumers as to the nature of the activity.

Thus the name "Radio Liberty" can be used as a commercial name for any radio station but not for other services.

And the name "Rassvet" (Dawn) can indicate a person manufacturing any goods or providing any services.

The rights in a commercial name belong to the person having used it first, and arise from the moment of the first use of such commercial name.

That is, the rights in a commercial name do not require any obligatory state registration.

Information on a commercial name can be entered in the appropriate registers but at present any special registers for registration of commercial names are absent.

The Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs can be considered an acting register, which can contain information on a commercial name, when a commercial name coincides with the name of a legal entity or is a part thereof, or when the name or surname of an entrepreneur is used as a commercial name. An extract from the above register can serve as confirmation of the right in a commercial name.

The rights in a commercial name are independent of whether it is registered as a trademark or not.

Moreover, a firm name of one person may cause obstacles to the registration of a similar trademark by another person and be a ground for invalidation of a certificate for such trademark, if it has already been registered, provided that the right in a commercial name had arisen before the date of filing of an application for trademark by other person.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW that different persons may have identical commercial names, if this does not mislead consumers as to the goods manufactured (sold) and services provided by them, i.e. provided that they manufacture different goods and provide different services.

For example, Firm "Zarya" manufacturing confectionery and Firm "Zarya" making computer accessories.

The owner of a commercial name has the following rights:

1.  the right to use a commercial name;

2. the right to prevent other persons from illegal using a commercial name, including also to prohibit such use;

3.  the right to claim damages or payment of a pecuniary compensation for infringement of rights in a commercial name.

In order to avoid misleading of consumers, the transfer of the above rights is possible only together with "an integral property complex or its part". That is the assignment of rights in a commercial name implies full or partial transfer of business (enterprise).

The rights in a commercial name shall LAPSE in the following cases:

1. liquidation of a legal person;

2.  change of the name of a legal person, if it stops using the old name in its activity;

3.  discontinuance of business activity by an individual entrepreneur.

The law may also stipulate any other grounds for lapse of the rights in a commercial name.