Every Company to be registered in India have to apply to the Registrar of Companies (ROC for short) for Approval of Name. After the Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the company fulfills all the guidelines for name approval and the name of the proposed company is not similar to any other company in existence in similar or same industry and is not infringing on any trademark in the knowledge of ROC, then after satisfying himself in this regards he will approve the name and furnish a name approval letter to the applicant which is valid for a period of 60 days from the date of issue of the letter. During this period of 60 days the ROC will not entertain any other application for name approval for the approved name. During this time the promoters of the company are required to undertake the further formalities to get the company registered.
We are providing you below the broad guidelines which are required to be followed for choosing the required name before applying for name approval. The guidelines provided below are in now way comprehensive but are a simplified version, we strongly recommend you take professional help to choose a name for your company in accordance with the guidelines.
The proposed name of the company should not be
- Similar or Similar Sounding to the name of any existing company / LLP or name approved by the ROC (Company / LLP under incorporation)
- Similar to a Registered Trademark or Trademark applied for registration
- Should not resemble any of the protected government names & emblems ( Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950)
- Should not be offensive word of any kind or offensive to a section of society
- Should not be too generic
- Should not give the impression that it is related or approved by the Central or State Government
These are the basic guidelines one should follow for choosing the name for a company. However, it is recommended to take professional advice to make sure the name of the company comply with all guidelines.