Selecting a name is the most important decision when incorporating a new company. The image of a business that you want to create will be reflected through its name. Registration of the company name will also protect the name and no other company allows to use the same registered name.

This article focuses on the selection of Singapore company names, along with applicable naming regulations and procedures which are required when deciding a name for the new company. Let’s keep reading the article!

Selection of Company Name in Singapore

The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) will approve the name of a company, but they will refuse a proposed name if it is similar, identical or phonetically the same as a registered company.

The use of certain words such as “bank”, “insurance”, and “education” could be subjected to control and regulation by other governments and require permission before proceeding to incorporate.

According to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), the following are matters you must consider when selecting a name for your company or business. However, the registrar will reject a proposed company or business name, if the name is:

1. Undesirable (if it is obscene and includes religious name)
2. Identical to any registered name of a company, corporation, business, partnership, limited liability partnership.
3. Identical to any reserved name as per the Business Registration Act 2014, Limited Liability Partnership Act, or Limited Partnership Act.
4. Not accepted by the Registrar as per the directions of the Minister.

You are required to exercise caution and avoid selecting names that resemble the name of another because the Registrar has the delicacy to direct you to change your company name if another company or business has a valid complaint within 12 months that your name resembles their company’s name or is likely to be mistaken for it.

The Regulations on Determining Identical Names

The companies (Identical Names) Rules and Business Registration (Identical Names) Rules were enacted pursuant to the news. 27(2D) of the Companies Act and s. (Provigil) 11(10) Business Registration Act.

They are rules set out what the Registrar will consider as identical:

1. In determining whether one name is identical to another, the following shall be disregarded:

1. “The”, where it is the first word of the name;
2. “Private”, “Pte”, “Sendirian”, “Sdn”, “Limited”, “Ltd”, “Berhad” and “Bhd”;
3. the following words and expressions where they appear at the end of the name:
   “company”, “and company”, “corporation”, “Incorporated”, “Asia”,“Asia Pacific”, “International”, “Singapore”, “South Asia”, “South East Asia” and “Worldwide”;
4. any word or expression which, in the opinion of the Registrar, is intended to represent any word or expression in sub-paragraph (iii); (v) the plural version of the name; (vi) the type and case of letters, spacing between letters and punctuation marks; and

b. The symbol “&” is deemed to have the same meaning as the word “and”

The rules also allow for the Registrar to refer the parties in dispute over the use of a name to mediation before giving any direction for a name change.

Guidelines on Searching for Identical or Similar Names

1. For names with initials, key in the various combinations of the proposed name.

Eg. If the proposed name is “AB Trading”, the possible ways of checking are: AB, A B, A.B, A. B, A-B, A - B, A&B, A & B, ANB, A N B, A ‘n’ B, The AB, The A.B, The A&B, etc.

2. Check for names with similar pronunciations.

The possible ways of checking for similarly pronounced names are:

Eg. Wah, Wa, Hwa, Hua, etc. Sing, Seng, Sin, Sen, Xing, Xin, Shing, etc. How, HaoYen, Yan, Yian, Yien, Yuan, etc. Chong, Chung, Cheong, CheungCity, CitiClassic, Classique, Klassic, Classic, etc. Express, Xpress, X’press, X-press, etc. Yew Fa, Yew Fatt, You Fa, Yu Fa, Yewfa, U Fa, etc.

Eg. If the proposed name is “The Fashion”, the possible ways of checking are: Fashion, De Fashion, De-Fashion, De’ Fashion, De. Fashion, D. Fashion, D-Fashion, D Fashion, D’ Fashion, etc.

3. Check for similar names, but in different sequence(s).

Eg. If the proposed name is “Gift Express”, please also check for “Express Gift”. If the proposed name is “Bags Big and Small”, please also check for “Bags Small and Big” / “Big and Small Bags”, “Small and Big Bags” etc.

4. Check for similar names dealing with a similar trade or in a similar industry. Also, check for words with similar meanings as the proposed name.

Eg. “Rose Transport” is similar to “Rose Transportation” / “Rose Forwarding”, etc. “Bob Construction” is similar to “Bob Renovation” / “Bob Contractor” / “Bob Builder”, etc. “Red Fashion” is similar to “Red Boutique” / “Red Apparel”, etc. “AB Trading” is similar to “AB Marketing” / “AB Enterprise” / “AB Import & Export”, etc.

5. Note that each of the following common descriptive words is considered similar to those mentioned the same line:

i) Trading; trade; marketing; enterprise

ii) Investment; holding

iii) Construction; building; builder; build

iv) Contractor; renovation contractor

v) Systems; solutions; information technology; I.T.; technologies

vi) Travels; traveling; traveler

vii) Movers; transports; logistics

viii) Freight forwarders; freight forwarding, express.

6. Graphical words and phrases, including names of countries and places, are not considered distinguishing or descriptive.

Eg. “Hello Trading” is similar to “Hello Trading International” / “Hello Trading Singapore”, etc. Conversely, “Comfy Sofas South-East Asia ” is similar to “Comfy Sofas”, etc.

7. Punctuation marks are not considered to be sufficiently distinguishing or descriptive.

Eg. “Happy! Hamsters” is similar to “Happy Hamsters” “Faraway Tour” is similar to “Far-Away Tour”

8. Check for similar company and business names, whether the proposed name is for a company or a business.

Eg. “Square Chocolates Pte Ltd” is similar to “Square Chocolates Trading”, etc. “Loud Music Enterprise” is similar to “Loud Music Inc.” / “Loud Music Pte Ltd”/ “Loud Music Sdn. Bhd.”, etc.

These are the regulations on company names in Singapore, and deciding a company name is quite difficult, as the name we choose is probably similar to other companies. Thus, these are rules and guidelines for you to set out the company’s name.

READ MORE: Viettonkin Consulting incorporation service

In conclusion, you need to remember that a company cannot be incorporated without a name while deciding a name, and reserving it is one of the first steps. The name of your company should be selected after careful observation of the regulations of the Companies Act. Choosing the identical name should be avoided too, and if the name that you select is not online with the law and regulation, it will either be rejected in the first place, or you will get complained against as per the procedures provided by ACRA.

When investors decide to go full-steam into setting up a business in Vietnam, selecting a trading name for the company is the first step. Even though foreign-owned companies are entirely at the discretion of business-owners, they remain subjected to Vietnamese business laws, including business naming regulations. This article provides a starter-pack on company naming regulations in Vietnam.

Things to avoid when naming a company in Vietnam

There are several mistakes that can get your business registration application rejected by the Business registration office:

• Using the script of a foreign language in the proper name (Example: Classical chinese script);
• Using names that are identical or nearly similar to that of a state agency, organization, or previously registered enterprise in Vietnam (more below on Copyrights of Company names);
• Under Circular 10/2014 by the Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism, it is not permitted for companies to use names identical to (1) the name of a historically famous person (Example: Phan Boi Chau Joint Stock Company); (2) Vietnam’s earlier country names (Example: Dai Viet Company Limited); or (3) names of individuals or words/symbols that are deemed offensive to national historical and cultural values.

Reserving a company name

When registering a foreign business in Vietnam, investors must register the company’s Vietnamese name, Foreign language name, and Abbreviated name.

While a Vietnamese name is required for licensing procedures, once registration is approved investors can choose to promote the business under any of the registered names. 

1. Vietnamese name

Type of legal entity + proper name

Types of legal entity are normally abbreviated in Vietnamese:

• Limited liability company: Công ty TNHH (Trách nhiệm hữu hạn)
• Joint stock company: Công ty CP (Cổ phần)
• Partnership: Công ty HD (Hợp doanh)
• Private enterprise: DNTN (Doanh nghiệp tư nhân)
• Branch, representative office: Chi nhánh or Văn phòng đại diện

SEE MORE: Types of legal entity in Vietnam 

The proper name is written using the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, digits and symbols. 

2. Foreign language and abbreviated names

The company name in a foreign language is the name translated from Vietnamese into a foreign language that uses the Latin alphabet. When translated, the company’s proper name may be kept unchanged or translated into a foreign phrase (Example: Rong Vang JSC or Golden Dragon JSC).

The abbreviated name of a company can be derived from either its Vietnamese name or foreign name (Example: Công ty CP Viettonkin or Viettonkin JSC).

The foreign name must appear in a smaller size than the enterprise’s Vietnamese name at the company’s headquarter, branches, representative offices, business locations, and on its documents and publications.

Once investors settle on the name of the company, they can reserve the business name by:

• Verify that the trade name conforms to Vietnamese copyright laws;
• Reserve the Vietnamese name and foreign name with the Vietnam Trade Register;
• Submit the abbreviated name to the Companies Registry.

The Trade register of Vietnam, referred to as the Business registration office, is the official body providing services for company name reservation and verification, business registration application processing, and company documents issuing. All paperwork regarding the status of businesses is handled and stored at the office. 

How can a company change its name? 

A change in the company’s name may occur at some point under several circumstances, the most common of which being:

•  A change of activities or goods and services of the company results in the current name being unable to represent the company
• A company undergoing Mergers & Acquisitions takes the name of the taking-over business.
• The current name is deemed problematic or causes confusion
• Re-branding

When that happens, the company owners must fill out a notification and request to the Trade Register for changing the company names and complete the due procedure, which includes:

• Amending the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association with the new name;
• Notifying all relevant authorities regarding the change;
• Changing the name on all official documents and the company seal. 

Rights to company names

Rights to company names (also referred to as trade names) are automatically protected under Vietnamese IP laws when it is capable of distinguishing the business entity bearing the name from other business entities operating in the same field. A trade name is considered distinctive, thus entitled to copyrights protection, if it comprises a proper name which is NOT:

• Identical with or confusingly similar to the trade name of an already registered company within the same field or locality;
• Identical with or confusingly similar to another person’s mark or a geographical indication protected by law.

A trade name is considered confusingly similar if :

• Either the Vietnamese name, foreign name or abbreviated name is similar.
• The proper name of the company is different from the same-type registered company by a cardinal number, ordinal number, symbol, or letter in Vietnamese or English alphabet immediately following the proper name.

Example: “Viettonkin JSC” and “Viettonkin 1 JSC”, “Viettonkin X JSC”, “Viettonkin’ JSC”

• The proper name of the company is different from the same-type registered company by the word “New”, “Tan, “Moi”, or “North”, “East”, “South”, “West” or words in a similar vein.

All indications of commercial acts of an enterprise that are not distinctive according to the above criteria will be regarded as infringements of Vietnamese intellectual property rights. In this case, company registration will be rejected by the Business registration office. 

SEE MORE: IP laws and protection in Vietnam.

To sum up, these are the first guidelines to get you started on your business endeavor in Vietnam. Company name reservation can be a simple and trouble-free process once you understand the basic principles of the Vietnamese company naming regulation. Our legal specialists are always ready to assist you with any procedures of company naming and changing name.