A company can be defined as a legal entity having a separate identity. It is formed by an individual or group of individuals for engaging and operating a business, either commercial or industrial. The name of the company must be unique and should not have been blacklisted. This article describes the provisions under the Companies Act 2013 with respect to the company name search as well as Company Incorporation Rules 2014. The Guideline to be followed while searching the name of the company has been discussed in the later part of the article.

Before registration of a company an unique name is to be given to the company for which search is to be conducted.

Conducting a search for the name of the business before starting a business is a must. Searching for a company name ensures the distinctive identity of the company. Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in India is the website provided by the Indian government for checking company names. The MCA is governed by the finance minister of India. And responsible for the regulations of the Indian enterprises operating in the industrial as well as the service sectors.  Section 4(2) & (3) of the Companies Act 2013 along with Companies Incorporation Rules, 2014 provides that no word as prohibited in the above-mentioned section should be present in the name of the company. There are several websites available where one can search the name of the company as well. The shareholders must ensure to comply with this provision of the section. The shareholders should also read and understand Rule 8 of the Companies Incorporation Rules 2014 before applying for the name of the company.

The memorandum of the company that is a legal document specifying the scope of business activities of the company along with information relating to the shareholding of the company has been prescribed in Section 4 of the Companies Act. This provision is also known as the Memorandum of Association (MOA) containing six clauses. Amongst the six clauses, the Name clause is the first important clause of the MOA.
 

• Name Clause- Company being a legal entity requires an identity of its own which is the name of the company. This clause demands that the name of the company must be unique and not used anywhere previously. The description of the nature of the business activity of the Company gives an authentic impression when attached to the name of the company. In the name clause, the type of the company must also be stated. In the case of a private limited company, a suffix “Private Limited” must be attached to the end of the name of the company. Whereas, a suffix ‘Limited’ must be attached to a public limited company and suffix ’OPC’ at the end of a One-Person Company.
• Section 4(2)- As mentioned above, this section states that the name of the company should not be identical or does not resemble any other name of the existing company which is already registered under the Companies Act. Further, it states that the name should be such that it constitutes an offence under any law for the time being in force or is not desirable as per the rules of the Central Government.

Rule 8 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules 2014 states that when a name of the company is applied for, shall be regarded as resembling in nexus with the name of any other existing company if after comparing the names that has been applied for are same according to the sub-rule 2 of rule. Exceptions to the sub-rule 2 include words such as Private, Pvt, Pvt., (P), OPSC. Ltd., IFSC Limited, etc., as well as plural or singular form of words in one or both of the name of the company.

Name of the company is registered with the Registrar of the Companies (ROC). Following is the guideline to keep in mind while naming a company and applying for its registration. ROC reserves the right to reject the name if the guideline has not been duly followed.
 

• Uniqueness- The name of the company must be unique and should not have been registered earlier with any other company.
• Avoiding abbreviations- Generic words or adjectives or abbreviations are to be avoided while naming a company.
• Avoiding common trademark- The name of the company should not be as such that infringes a registered trademark or any application for registration of the trademark provided prior consent of the owner of such trademark has been submitted.
• Patronage- There cannot be any company name being associated with a national hero or an individual having high self-esteem or holding an important position in the government of India.
• Blocking domain name- To avoid duplicity, the applicant should block the domain name of the company.
• Regulatory approval- Certain company names require regulatory approvals from RBI, SEBI, IRDAI etc. having words such as insurance, bank, exchange, venture capital, asset management, mutual fund, etc.
• Avoid using any offensive words in the name of the company.