Naming Guidelines For New Companies
Your business name is the representation of your business. It defines you, your work, your vision and your approach towards work. A name is like the representative of the business. It has the capabilities of both building and destroying. While we all try our best to name our businesses, we should always keep few legal and technical aspects in mind before fixing up on it. Here are few suggestions one should keep in mind before selecting a name for the business.
- Suffix Requirement
- Distinguishable Requirement
- How to determine uniqueness ?
- Restricted/Reserved Names
- Naming Guidelines For Special Business Types
Suffix Requirement
It is mandatory for every type of company to have the suitable suffixes in their names for identification purposes
- Every Limited Company should have Limited as a suffix
- Every Private Limited Company should have Private Limited as a suffix
- Every One Person Company should have OPC Private Limited as a suffix
- Every Limited Liability Partnership should have LLP as a suffix
- Every Nidhi Company should have Nidhi Limited as a suffix
The proposed name should not include any additional words which might indicate separate type of business form such as Sole-proprietorship, HUF, proprietorship, Inc, Trust etc.
Distinguishable Requirement
The proposed business names should not be similar or identical to any other company or Limited Liability Partnership in existence or which has been recently dissolved (2/5 years).
How to determine uniqueness ?
In determining whether a proposed name is identical with another, the following differences shall be disregarded.
- Addition of the words like Private, Pvt, Pvt., (P), Limited, Ltd, Ltd., LLP, Limited Liability Partnership;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apple LLP, any other combinations such as Apple Private Limited or Apple Ltd won’t be allowed. - Words appearing at the end of the names – company, and company, co., co, corporation, corp, corpn, corp.
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apple LLP, any other combinations such as Apple Company Private Limited or Apple Corporation Ltd won’t be allowed. - Plural version of any of the words appearing in the name;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apple LLP, any other combinations such as Apples Private Limited or Apples Ltd won’t be allowed. - Type and case of letters, spacing between letters and punctuation marks;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apples LLP, any other combinations such as apple llp, Apple’s Private Limited or Apple. Ltd won’t be allowed. - Joining words together or separating the words does not make a name distinguishable from a name that uses the similar, separated or joined words;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apple Computers LLP, any other combinations such as AppleComputers LLP won’t be allowed. - Use of a different tense or number of the same word does not distinguish one name from another;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name MakeMyTrip LLP, any other combinations such as MakingMyTrip LLP won’t be allowed.
If there already exists a company with the name Apple LLP, any other combinations such as Apple 2 LLP won’t be allowed. - Using different phonetic spellings or spelling variations shall not be considered as Distinguishing one name from another.
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Chrome LLP, any other similar sounding names such as Krome LLP won’t be allowed.
If there already exists a company with the name Two Cows LLP, any other combinations such as 2 Cows LLP or 2Cows LLP won’t be allowed. - Misspelled words, whether intentionally misspelled or not, do not conflict with the similar, properly spelled words;
- The addition of an internet related designation, such as .com, .net, .edu, .gov, .org, .in does not make a name distinguishable from another, even where (.) is written as ‘dot’;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Chrome LLP, any other combination of names such as Chrome.com LLP or Chrome.net LLP won’t be allowed. - The addition of words like New, Modern, Nav, Shri, Sri, Shree, Sree, Om, Jai, Sai, The, etc. does not make a name distinguishable from an existing name and similarly, if it is different from the name of the existing company only to the extent of adding the name of the place, the same shall not be allowed; such names may be allowed only if no objection from the existing company by way of Board resolution is submitted;
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Chrome LLP, any other combination of names such as New Chrome LLP or Chrome LLP won’t be allowed. - Different combination of the same words does not make a name distinguishable from an existing name,
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Apple and Orange Private Limited, any other combination of names such as Orange and Apple Private Limited won’t be allowed unless it is change of name of existing company; - If the proposed name is the Hindi or English translation or transliteration of the name of an existing company or limited liability partnership in English or Hindi, as the case may be.
Eg. If there already exists a company with the name Time Private Limited, any other combination of names such as Samay Private Limited won’t be allowed; - If the proposed name resembles name of a company incorporated outside India and reserved by such company with the Registrar
- If such proposed name is too general such as Hotel Private Limited instead of Apple Hotels Private Limited
Restricted/Reserved Names
The proposed name will be not allowed if such names:
- If such proposed name is a Registered Trademark or a Trademark subject of an application
- for registration under the Trade Marks Act, 1999
- If such proposed name contains words or names of personages who are national heroes or who are holding or held important positions with Govt
- If such proposed names are covered under Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention and Improper Use) Act, 1950 (12 of 1950);
- If such proposed name contains words which implies a connection with any foreign government, embassy or consulate.
- If such proposed name contains the words “State” unless it’s a Govt Company
- If such proposed name contains only the words of any Country, State, City or Continent. Eg. Odisha Private Limited, Antarctica Private Limited etc.
- If such name contains names or combination of foreign country with use of India unless there is a Govt. Approval of the same.
- If such proposed name contains the words “British India”
- If such proposed name contains any word or words which are offensive to any section of the people;
- If such proposed name contains the following words:
- Board;
- Commission;
- Authority;
- Undertaking;
- National;
- Union;
- Central;
- Federal;
- Republic;
- President;
- Rashtrapati;
- Small Scale Industries;
- Khadi and Village Industries Corporation;
- Municipal;
- Panchayat;
- Development Authority;
- Prime Minister or Chief Minister;
- Minister;
- Nation;
- Forest corporation;
- Development Scheme;
- Statute or Statutory;
- Court or Judiciary;
Special Business Types
- If the primary business objective of the company is Financing, Leasing, Chit Fund, Investment, Securities Trading etc. the name should be indicative of such activities. Eg. Shree Ganesh Chit Fund LLP
- Every Section 8 companies should include in its name words such as Association, Foundation, Council, Federation, Confederation Etc.
- For Businesses who want to carry activities like Banking, Stock Exchange, Mutual Fund, Venture Capital, Insurance etc. will be allowed to add such words with prior approval from the regulatory authorities such as IRDA, SEBI, RBI is obtained.
Download the Naming Guidance Brochure.
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