Guidelines on naming your company

Guidelines on naming your company

The most basic and an important step in setting up your company is choosing an appropriate name for it. The naming should be in accordance with the Companies Act, 2013 or Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. There are three elements to the name of your company.

Name

The Companies Act or the LLP Act suggests that a unique and acceptable name be given to the set up. The name should not resemble any existing entity or LLP or trademark in the same industry. However, the same name for a company in a different industry may be allowed. Hence, the founders must ensure the sanctity of the names.

Object

The object part of the name is that which tells what is your company about and its business. It defines the company’s activity. Although two companies may share the same name, if their objects are different, the name will be allowed to be registered. However, it is important for the object part to be absolutely clear.

Constitution

This part of the company name defines the type of entity it is. Private Limited Companies are represented by Private Limited Company or Pvt. Ltd Company; One Person Companies are represented by OPC or One Person Company; Limited Companies are represented by LTD Company or Limited Company; and Limited Liability Partnerships are represented by LLP or Limited Liability Partnership.

Naming Guidelines

The Companies Act has laid down certain guidelines when it comes to naming a company.

• Don’t use the Plural Version of any of the words in an already existing company name.
• Do not try joining words or separating words.
• Changing the tense or number of a word from the name is also not acceptable if the company works in the same industry
• The use of different phonetic spellings or spelling variations does not make a name unique.
• Do not add internet-related designations such as .com, .net, .edu, .gov, .org, .in to make the name unique.
• Addition of common names or titles or the name of a place cannot be added to make the name sound unique. However, names with places may also be allowed if no objection from the existing company by way of Board resolution is submitted.
• Different combination of the same words is not allowed. Example, Contractors and Dealers cannot be made Dealers and Contractors.