# BRD-011 — A legal business name may back only one brand across the whole registry

> A legal business name already registered as a brand at TCR cannot be registered again, by anyone.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-011
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.company_name`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** Twilio, TCR
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-011/

## Why this rule exists

Brand uniqueness is registry-wide, not per account: if another CSP has already registered this business, the second submission collides with a record neither you nor the customer can see. Agencies hit this constantly when a client registered themselves first, or moved between platforms and left the old brand behind, and the rejection names a duplicate the customer will swear does not exist.

## How to fix it

Ask the customer whether they have ever registered 10DLC before, with anyone — including a previous agency or a platform they no longer use. If they have, the existing brand must be released or shared rather than duplicated; contact the CSP that holds it. Done when either no prior brand exists or the existing one has been transferred to you.

## Provider rejection codes

| Provider | Code | Resubmission allowed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Twilio | `30703` | yes |

## Check this yourself

**Has this business ever registered a 10DLC brand before, with anyone — including a former agency or a platform it no longer uses?**

1. Ask the customer directly who has sent SMS on their behalf in the past, not whether they have a brand. A forgotten registration from a previous vendor is the usual cause.
2. Where a prior brand exists, contact the CSP holding it to release or share it rather than registering a second one.

*What wrong looks like:* The submission is refused as a duplicate of a brand the customer will swear does not exist, because it was created by an agency they parted with two years ago and it is invisible to both of you.

## Notes

Off-platform: the duplicate lives in TCR, which we cannot query. The user has to establish for themselves whether the business has an existing brand — the reliable way is to ask the customer directly who has previously sent SMS on their behalf, since a forgotten registration from a former vendor is the usual cause. Do not resubmit hoping for a different answer; the check is exact and repeatable.