REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1963

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGISTRATION OF PERSONS CARRYING ON BUSINESS UNDER BUSINESS NAMES AND FOR PURPOSES CONNECTED THEREWITH. [11th December, 1963.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1 Commencement.

1.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by order.

2 Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

“business” includes profession;

“business name” means the name or style under which any business is carried on, and, in relation to a newspaper, includes the title of the newspaper;

“Christian name” includes any forename;

“director”, in relation to a body corporate, includes a member of the managing body thereof;

“firm” means an unincorporated body of two or more individuals, or one or more individuals and one or more bodies corporate, or two or more bodies corporate, who have entered into partnership with one another with a view to publishing a newspaper or to carrying on business for profit;

“initials” includes any recognised abbreviation of a Christian name;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

“newspaper” means any paper containing public news or observations thereon, or consisting wholly or mainly of advertisements, which is printed for sale and is published in the State either periodically or in parts or numbers at intervals not exceeding thirty-six days;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made in pursuance of this Act;

“the repealed enactment” means the Registration of Business Names Act, 1916, repealed by this Act;

“surname”, in the case of a person usually known by a title different from his surname, means that title.

• (2) References in this Act to a former Christian name or surname do not include—

• (a) in the case of a person usually known by a title different from his surname, the name by which he was known previous to the adoption of or succession to the title; or

• (b) in the case of any person, a former Christian name or surname where that name or surname was changed or disused before the person bearing the name attained the age of 18 years or has been changed or disused for a period of not less than 20 years; or

• (c) in the case of a married woman, the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

3 Persons to be registered.

3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act—

• (a) every firm having a place of business in the State and carrying on business under a business name which does not consist of the true surnames of all partners who are individuals and the corporate names of all partners which are bodies corporate without any addition other than the true Christian names of individual partners or initials of such Christian names;

• (b) every individual having a place of business in the State and carrying on business under a business name which does not consist of his true surname without any addition other than his true Christian names or the initials thereof;

• (c) every individual or firm having a place of business in the State, who, or a member of which, has either before or after the passing of this Act changed his name, except in the case of a woman in consequence of marriage;

• (d) every body corporate having a place of business in the State and carrying on business under a business name which does not consist of its corporate name without any addition;

• (e) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, every person having a place of business in the State and carrying on the business of publishing a newspaper,

shall be registered in the manner directed by this Act.

• (2) Where the addition merely indicates that the business is carried on in succession to a former owner of the business, that addition shall not of itself render registration necessary.

• (3) Where two or more individual partners have the same surname, the use of the plural form of that surname shall not of itself render registration necessary.

• (4) The use by a body corporate of a recognised abbreviation for “Company” or “Limited” or for any analogous expression forming part of its corporate name shall not of itself render registration necessary.

• (5) Where the business is carried on by an assignee or trustee in bankruptcy, a trustee of the estate of an arranging debtor, or a receiver or manager appointed by any court, registration shall not be necessary under paragraph (a), (b) or (d) of subsection (1).

• (6) An individual or firm shall not require to be registered by reason only of a change of his name or of the name of a partner in the firm, if the change has taken place before the person who has changed his name has attained the age of eighteen years or if not less than twenty years have elapsed since it took place, or by reason only of the adoption by an individual of a title to which he has succeeded.

4 Manner and particulars of registration.

4.—(1) Every person required under this Act to be registered shall furnish by sending by post or delivery to the registrar a statement in writing in the prescribed form containing the following particulars:

• (a) the business name, including, in the case of the proprietor of a newspaper, the title of the newspaper;

• (b) the general nature of the business;

• (c) the principal place of the business;

• (d) where the registration to be effected is that of a firm, the present Christian name and surname, any former Christian name or surname, the nationality, if not Irish, the usual residence, and the other business occupation (if any) of each of the individuals who are partners, and the corporate name and registered or principal office in the State of every body corporate which is a partner;

• (e) where the registration to be effected is that of an individual, the present Christian name and surname, any former Christian name or surname, the nationality, if not Irish, the usual residence, and the other business occupation (if any) of such individual;

• (f) where the registration to be effected is that of a body corporate, its corporate name and registered or principal office in the State;

• (g) the date of the adoption of the business name by that person.

• (2) Where a business is carried on under two or more business names, each of those business names must be stated.

5 Statement to be signed by persons registering.

5.—(1) The statement required for the purpose of registration must be signed—

• (a) in the case of an individual—by him, and

• (b) in the case of a body corporate—by a director or secretary thereof, and

• (c) in the case of a firm, either—

• (i) by all the individuals who are partners, and by a director or the secretary of all bodies corporate who are partners, or

• (ii) by some individual who is a partner, or a director or the secretary of some body corporate which is a partner,

and in a case to which paragraph (c) (ii) applies must be verified by a statutory declaration made by the signatory.

• (2) A statutory declaration stating that any person other than the declarant is a partner, or omitting to state that any person other than the declarant is a partner, shall not be evidence for or against any such other person in respect of his liability or non-liability as a partner.

• (3) The High Court may on application of any person alleged or claiming to be a partner direct the rectification of the register and decide any question arising under this section.

6 Time for registration.

6.—(1) The particulars required to be furnished under this Act by any person shall be furnished within one month after his adoption of the business name.

• (2) If the person has adopted the business name before the commencement of this Act, the particulars shall, if not already furnished under the repealed enactment, be furnished within one month from the commencement of this Act.

• (3) This section shall apply, where registration is required in consequence of a change of name, as if for references to the date of adoption of the business name there were substituted references to the date of such change.

7 Registration of changes.

7.—Whenever a change is made or occurs in any of the particulars registered in respect of any person, that person shall, within one month after the change or, if such change occurred before the commencement of this Act, within one month after such commencement, furnish by sending by post or delivering to the registrar a statement in writing in the prescribed form specifying the nature and date of the change signed, and where necessary verified, in like manner as the statement required on registration.

8 Certificate of registration.

8.—(1) On receiving a statement under section 4, or a statement under section 7 specifying a change in the business name, the registrar shall send by post or deliver a certificate of the registration thereof to the person registering.

• (2) A certificate of registration shall be kept exhibited in a conspicuous position at, in the case of a firm or individual, the principal place of business and, in the case of a body corporate, its registered or principal office in the State and, in every case, in every branch office or place where the business is normally carried on, and if not kept so exhibited, the person registered or, in the case of a firm, every partner in the firm shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

9 Duty to furnish particulars.

9.—(1) The Minister may require any person to furnish to him within such time as the Minister may require a statement of such particulars as appear necessary to the Minister for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not that person or the firm of which he is partner should be registered under this Act, or an alteration made in the registered particulars.

• (2) If from any information so furnished it appears to the Minister that any person ought to be registered under this Act, or an alteration ought to be made in the registered particulars, the Minister may require that person to furnish to the registrar the required particulars within such time as may be allowed by the Minister but, where any default under this Act has been discovered from the information acquired under this section, no proceedings under this Act shall be taken against any person in respect of such default prior to the expiration of the time within which that person is so required to furnish particulars to the registrar.

10 Penalty for default in furnishing statements.

10.—If any person required under this Act to furnish a statement of particulars or of any change in particulars makes default without reasonable excuse in so doing, the person so in default or, in the case of a firm, every partner in the firm shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

11 Penalty for false statements.

11.—If any statement furnished under this Act contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it, that person shall, on summary conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £100, or to both.

12 Removal of names from register.

12.—(1) If a person registered under this Act in respect of a business name ceases to carry on business under that name, it shall be the duty of that person or, in the case of an individual who dies, of his personal representative or, in the case of a firm, of every person who was a partner in the firm at the time when it ceased to carry on business under that name, and also, in the case of a body corporate, of any liquidator, within three months thereafter to send by post or deliver to the registrar a statement in the prescribed form to that effect, and if he makes default in doing so he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

• (2) On receipt of such statement the registrar may delete from the register the particulars relating to that business name.

• (3) Where, by virtue of subsection (6) of section 3, a person registered under this Act no longer requires to be so registered—

• (a) the registrar, if so requested by that person, shall remove that person from the register, and

• (b) section 8 shall no longer require that person to keep exhibited the certificate of registration,

and where the particulars registered under this Act in respect of any person include a former name or surname which, by virtue of subsection (2) of section 2, no longer requires to be included among those particulars, the registrar, if so requested by that person, shall amend the particulars by deleting that name or surname.

• (4) Where the registrar has reasonable cause to believe that any person registered under this Act in respect of a business name is not carrying on business under that name, he may send to that person by registered post a notice that, unless an answer is received to such notice within one month from the date thereof, the particulars relating to that business name may be deleted from the register.

• (5) If the registrar either receives an answer to the effect that the person is not carrying on business under that business name or does not within one month after sending the notice receive an answer, he may delete the particulars relating to that name from the register.

13 Index of business names.

13.—The registrar shall keep an index of all business names registered under this Act.

14 Undesirable business names.

14.—(1) The Minister may refuse to permit the registration under this Act of any name which in his opinion is undesirable but an appeal shall lie to the High Court against such refusal.

• (2) Where registration of a business name is refused under this section any person or, in the case of a firm, every partner in the firm, carrying on business under that name in such circumstances as to require registration under this Act, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

• (3) The registration of a business name under this Act shall not be construed as authorising the use of that name if apart from such registration the use thereof could be prohibited.

15 Registrar, assistant registrars and offices.

15.—(1) The registrar of companies or such other person as the Minister may determine shall be the registrar for the purposes of this Act.

• (2) Such persons as the Minister may determine shall be assistant registrars for the purposes of this Act.

• (3) For the purposes of the registration of persons under this Act, the Minister shall maintain and administer an office or offices in the State at such places as the Minister thinks fit.

16 Inspection, production and evidence of registered documents.

16.—(1) Any person may—

• (a) inspect the documents kept by the registrar, on payment of such fee as may be prescribed;

• (b) require a certificate of the registration of any person or a copy of or extract from any other document or any part of any other document, to be certified by the registrar, an assistant registrar or other officer authorised by the Minister, on payment for the certificate, certified copy or extract of such fees as may be prescribed.

• (2) No process for compelling the production of any document kept by the registrar shall issue from any court except with the leave of that court, and any such process if issued shall bear thereon a statement that it is issued with the leave of the court.

• (3) A certificate of registration or a copy of, or extract from, any document kept by the registrar, certified under the hand of the registrar, an assistant registrar or other officer authorised by the Minister (whose official position or authority it shall not be necessary to prove), shall in all legal proceedings be admissible in evidence.

17 Regulations.

17.—(1) The Minister may make regulations concerning any of the following matters—

• (a) the fees to be paid to the registrar under this Act;

• (b) the forms to be used under this Act;

• (c) generally the conduct and regulation of registration under this Act, and any matters incidental thereto.

• (2) All fees payable in pursuance of this Act shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

• (3) Regulations made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

18 Publication of true names, etc.

18.—(1) A person required by this Act to be registered shall, in all business letters, circulars and catalogues on or in which the business name appears and which are sent by that person to any person, state in legible characters—

• (a) in the case of an individual, his present Christian name, or the initials thereof, and present surname, any former Christian names and surnames, and his nationality, if not Irish;

• (b) in the case of a firm, the present Christian names, or the initials thereof, and present surnames, any former Christian names and surnames, and the nationality, if not Irish, of all the partners in the firm or, in the case of a body corporate being a partner, the corporate name;

• (c) in the case of a body corporate (not being a company to which section 196 of the Companies Act, 1963, applies), its corporate name, and the present Christian name, or the initials thereof, the present surname, any former Christian names and surnames, and the nationality, if not Irish, of every director or, in the case of a body corporate being a director, the corporate name.

• (2) If default is made in compliance with this section the person or, in the case of a firm, every partner in the firm shall be liable on summary conviction for each offence to a fine not exceeding £25.

19 Offences by bodies corporate.

19.—Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Act every director, secretary and officer of the body corporate who is knowingly a party to the default shall be guilty of a like offence and liable to a like penalty.

20 Summary proceedings.

20.—(1) Summary proceedings in relation to an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.

• (2) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within three years from the date of the offence.

21 Repeals and consequential provisions.

21.—(1) The Registration of Business Names Act, 1916, is hereby repealed.

• (2) The Defamation Act, 1961, is hereby amended—

• (a) by the deletion, in the definition of “newspaper” in section 2, of “except in section 27”,

• (b) by the repeal of section 27.

• (3) The register kept under the repealed enactment shall be deemed part of the register for the purposes of this Act.

• (4) All statements and particulars furnished, statutory declarations made, notices, certificates, certified copies and extracts given and things done under the repealed enactment shall have effect as if furnished, made, given or done under this Act.

22 Expenses.

22.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

23 Short title.

23.—This Act may be cited as the Registration of Business Names Act, 1963.