NAME THE ENTERPRISE

You want to establish a new enterprise and name it as your desire. But the name have to comply with the law, otherwise the Business registration Office will refuse. In this article, T2H Lawyers will help you understand the law provisions on NAME THE ENTERPRISE.

A. Regulations on naming enterprises

The Vietnamese name of an enterprise consists of two elements:

1. Type of entity. The type of entity shall be written as “công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn” or “công ty TNHH” (for limited liability company); “công ty cổ phần” or “công ty CP” (for joint-stock company); “công ty hợp danh” or “công ty HD” (for partnership company); “doanh nghiệp tư nhân”, “DNTN” or “doanh nghiệp TN” (for private enterprise);
2. Proper name. The proper name must be written using the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, numberals and symbols.

The name of enterprise shall be attached at the head office, branches, representative offices, and other business locations of the enterprise. The name of enterprise shall be printed or written on transaction papers, documents, materials and printed matters published by the enterprise.

B. Prohibited acts in naming enterprises

• Using name which are indentical or confusing similar to the name of a registered enterprise.
• Using the name of a state agency, people’s armed forces unit, political organization,  socio-political organization, socio-politico-professional organization, social organization or socio-professional organization as the whole or part of the proper name of an enterprise, unless it is consented to by such agency, unit or organization.
• Using words, phrases and symbols which contravene national historical traditions, culture, ethics and fine customs.

C. Identical names and confusingly similar names

1. The enterprise or its founder must not use a name that is already used by another enterprise or easily confused with another enterprise’s name that is already registered on National Enterprise Registration Database; except for the names of enterprises that have been dissolved or declared bankrupt by the court.
2. The following cases are considered as causing confusion with the names of registered enterprises:

• The Vietnamese name of an enterprise requesting registration is pronounced the same as the name of a registered enterprise;
• The abbreviated name of enterprise requesting registration is identical to the abbreviated name of a registered enterprise;
• The foreign-language name of an enterprise requesting registration is identical to the foreign-language name of a registered enterprise;
• The proper name of an enterprise requesting registration is different from the name of a same-type registered enterprise only by a cardinal number, ordinal number, or letters in Vietnamese alphabet and the letters F, J, Z, W immediately following the proper name of such enterprises;
• The proper name of an enterprise requesting registration is different from the proper name of a same-type registered enterprise only by the symbols “&”, “.”, “+”, “-“, “_”;
• The proper name of an enterprise requesting registration is different from the proper name of a same-type registered enterprise only by the word “tan” (new) immediately preceding or the word “moi” (new) immediately following the  proper name of registered enterprise;
• The proper name of an enterprise requesting registration is different from the proper name of a same-type registered enterprise only by the words “the North,” “the South,” “the Central,” “the West,” “the East” or words of similar

3. The foreign-language name of an enterprise must not coincide with the foreign-language name of an registered enterprise. The abbreviated name of an enterprise must not coincide with the abbreviated name of an registered enterprise. This regulations on avoidance of name coincidence are applied nationwide, except for the names of enterprises that have been dissolved or declared bankrupt by the court.
4. Enterprises whose names coincide or are confused with each other are recommended to negotiate about changing their names or adding geographical areas to their names as a distinguishing element.

Please contact us for detailed advice.

T2H Law Liability limited company

Head office: G4-4A, Dormitory 708, Lien Ninh, Thanh Tri, Hanoi

Branch office: Floor 4, no.2, 115 Chien Thang Street, Van Quan Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi.

Phone: 0242 242 9900 – 0989 656 682

Website: https://t2hlawyers.vn

Email: contact.t2h@t2h.vn – huong.le@t2h.vn