A new regulation requires that applications for registration of company names be processed electronically, through the Ministry of Law's Legal Entities Administration System.
Regulation on Procedures for Submitting Applications for Validation of Legal Entities and Approval and Notification for Amendment of Limited Liability Companies Constitutions and Information (No. 4 of 2014) came into force on 26 March 2014. A significant change to the way in which company names are administered is the move to the electronic application system. The criteria that must be fulfilled remain unchanged, and is set out in article 5(1) of Government Regulation on Procedures for Proposing and Using Business Names for Limited Liability Companies (No. 43 of 2011). These include that business names:
- consist of words written in latin script;
- are not similar with the registered name of another company;
- are not the same or similar with a State institution or international institution;
- do not incorporate words suggesting the business is a certain type of legal entity (e.g. firm); and
- do not consist of words that are contrary to public order.
There is no cross-checking of company names and trademarks, despite that both registries are administered by the same Ministry - the database of company names is administered by the Ministry of Law's Directorate General of Law Administration, and the General Register of Trademarks is administered by the Ministry of Law's Directorate-General of Intellectual Property. Further, procedures for filing objections to company names are not well established. This can lead to conflict between brand owners and third parties that register company names similar to brands.
Where a similar company name and trademark are owned by separate entities, it may become necessary to assess what constitutes use as a trademark (an indication of origin of goods) and what constitutes use as a company name - and this is not always a straightforward task.