Name changes for photographers | Legal aid

Questioner

Good afternoon, I am a Photographer and I want to change my name. The name for my company that I am currently using does not match my own personal name. I want to change this. Since I am a photographer I want to use Photography after my name. Unfortunately I found out that another person in the same business world (who lives very far away from me) uses approximately the same name. For this person it is firstnamelastnamephotography so photography in Dutch. This person's domain name is www.firstnamelastnamephotography.nl I have registered the domain name www.firstname-lastname.com and nl. This does NOT match, but of course I will want to use my name on the website and Photography behind it. The person in question is also registered with the Chamber of Commerce as first name last name photography. Now the question: Is it allowed to register my company name as firstname-lastnamephotography? The domain names don't match anyway, so that makes a big difference. I hope you can help me, because since my clientele is increasing I want to continue in the world of photography under my real name. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Anonymously

Lawyer

First of all, domain names and trade names are separate. You don't have to worry about the domain names in any case. Then the trade name. Among other things, it is important whether there can be confusion between your company and that of the other person. You already indicate that you work in the same sector, but both live far apart. Do you work locally? Does the other also work mainly locally? If you do not get in each other's way geographically, you do not have to worry. If you both work nationally, then there is a possibility of confusion.

Questioner

Dear Charlotte, Thanks for the response. It's good that I don't have to worry about the domain name and website anymore. To get back to your questions. The person in question focuses mainly on companies and works nationwide. So within the branch of photography we don't really bite each other, I mainly focus on weddings and portrait photography. I have spoken to the person in question and his request is to choose another name. In contrast, I want to make an adjustment purely and solely in terms of domain name and website and continue to exist under my current trade name for the time being. So another question: If I create a website under the new domain name voor-achternaam.nl and create a new website but on the new website I will still be known under my old trade name then that should not cause any problems I think? Also, after completing my website, I will take down the old website and link the old domain name to the new website so that the tax authorities etc. are also forwarded to the new website via the normal trade name. I would like to hear your feedback. Kind regards

Lawyer

If I understand you correctly, you are both photographers, but you both work with a different specialization. This will reduce the risk of confusion somewhat. The problem remains that the other photographer works nationwide. You want to use the domain name firstname-lastname.nl for your company, but you continue to use your old trade name. This should indeed not cause any problems, since only the trade name is important to determine whether your company can be confused with that of the other photographer and not the domain name. The way you plan to set it up now doesn't seem to pose a problem. Success.

Questioner

Charlotte, Thanks for the response, that's very good news. Indeed, we both work nationwide, but we do have various specializations in photography. Eventually I will choose another trade name but that will take time and then I now have a good solution in between with a new website and a domain name where people can easily find me. Eventually I can also link the new trade name to that. Greetings and thank you for your response.