Hi,
I've been running a Sole proprietorship(unregistered) for a while and decided to register it as a Pty Ltd for various reasons.

Problem is my name was rejected as being too close to another registered name (I disagree, but that is another matter) - So I had to register it under another similar name.

I cannot just change my name as I already have somewhat of a presence online and a few customers. So what are my options?

1. Do Pty Ltd 'trading as' Sole Proprietor? - I believe this will be a thing of the past soon, so I don't know for how long I would be able to continue doing this
2. Sell my Sole Proprietorship to my Pty Ltd and trade as '...a subsidiary of Pty Ltd'?
3. Can I appeal the name rejection?
4. The other company does not seem to be in operation (I can't find any info on it at least) - can I find out who the owners are and buy the name from them, or get permission from them to register my name - is this an option?
5?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated

Derickt