Naming your company 101: Probably best not to have the word 'Oracle' anywhere near branding

Big Red flag: UK transport biz made to pay £800 after tech vendor wins appeal

Croydon biz Oracle101 has been ordered to change its name and pay Big Red £800 after the tech titan complained about the upstart's moniker.

The UK-based firm, which is classified as "other service activities incidental to land transportation", registered its name on 9 October 2018.

Almost two months later, the giant enterprise tech vendor Oracle filed an application for the name to be changed, under section 69(1) of the Companies Act 2006.

Oracle101 and its sole director, Ferdinal Knight, did not reply to attempts to contact him about the application, offered no comments on the case and did not request a hearing.

Because of this, the Company Names Tribunal – which hears such cases – treated the application as if it was not opposed.

The tribunal today said that Oracle101 needed to change its name within one month and to make sure that the next one doesn't fall foul of the Companies Act.

Knight must ensure "not to cause or permit any steps to be taken calculated to result in another company being registered with a name that is an offending name", the decision notice stated.

If such a change isn't made, then the adjudicator, who was in this case Susan Eaves, will determine a new company name.

Because Oracle was successful in its application, Eaves added that the firm was entitled to a contribution towards its costs.

The adjudicator ruled that Oracle101 and Knight should pay Big Red £400 for the fee of application and £400 for the statement of the case. ®