Company/LLP Name Approval

Reserve Name of your Company/LLP

Name Approval of a Company or LLP is a quick, easy, and 100% online process. We provide you with a detailed analysis report on the suitability of your proposed name, and file the application for Name Approval of your Company/LLP to the Registrar.
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Reserve Unique Name of a Company/LLP

The name of a company or LLP is the most significant aspect of its identity as it aptly communicates its brand and business activity. So, it must be selected with utmost carefulness, keeping in mind all the legalities involved in the process. It is also important that the name of the proposed startup should not in any way infringe upon any other existing business. For this purpose, you must follow the provisions of the Companies Act, the Trademark Act, and the Names and Emblems Act. Once you’ve finalized the name, you will have to obtain the approval of the Registrar at the Central Registration Center.
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The name should be unique and must contain business activities

business activity

The business activity should not be the first word in the name.

The proposed name should not violate someone else trademark.

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The name must meet the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013

How to Reserve The Name of a Company/LLP?

To seek the name approval, an application is filed with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). For a company the application for name reservation is filed in the Part A of the Spice Plus Form, whereas in the case of LLP the application is filed in the prescribed RUN form. The said application for the name reservation is submitted online on the official website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (www.mca.gov.in). While filing the application, the significance of the name and the proposed activities of the company or startup is also submitted for evaluation of the proposed name. The ROC evaluates the application and either accepts the proposed name, raises clarification or rejects the proposed name to their discretion and in line with the well laid regulations of the name approval of the company.
Note that the reservation or approval of the name does not mean that your company is registered with it. It only implies that you can now apply for the registration of your company or LLP with the reserved or approved name. The reserved name for a company is valid for only twenty days since company incorporation. However, its validity may be extended by paying additional government fees.

Legal Guidelines & Principles to Select Company/LLP Name

S.No Laws Legal Provisions
1.
Companies Act
  • Section 4 (2):
  • The name proposed cannot be identical or resemble too closely the name of an existing company or LLP
  • The name proposed must not be such that it constitutes a legal offense under any law in force for the time being
  • The name proposed must not be undesirable in the opinion of the Central Government
  • Section 4 (3):
  • The proposed name must not contain any word or expression which is likely to give the impression that the company is in any way connected with, or is having the patronage of the Central / State / Local Government, or a corporation /body constituted the Central / State / Local Government.
  • The proposed name must not contain such words or expressions, as may be notified, unless the previous approval of the Central Government has been obtained for their use.
2.
Companies (Incorporation) Rules
  • Rule 8:
  • While comparing the proposed name with the name of the existing company there are certain matters which must be disregarded. If after disregarding these matters the names are still the same, then the proposed name cannot be used. A complete list of such matters is mentioned in Rule 8.
  • Rule 8A:
  • Rule 8A contains a complete list of words and expressions which are considered undesirable in the opinion of the Central Government and cannot be used to register a new company.
  • Rule 8B:
  • Rule 8B contains a complete list of words and expressions which can only be used in the name of a company after a prior approval of the Central Government is obtained.
3.
Trademark Act
  • Section 29:
  • Section 29 of the Trademark Act deals with the infringement of registered trademarks. So, according to this section, if an entity, like a company / LLP, not being the owner or permitted user of the Trademark, uses it, or something similar or identical to it, then it is considered to be an infringement. Simply put, the proposed name cannot be same, similar, or identical to a registered Trademark.
4.
Names & Emblems Act
  • Section 4:
  • No competent authority shall register any company, firm or other body of persons which bears any name mentioned in the Schedule of the Act, without the prior approval of the Central Government.

Checklist to Reserve the Name of a Company/LLP

1. At least one proposed name, legally valid and available for use
An LLP is co-owned by multiple partners who mutually agree to share its profits, liabilities, and the amount of capital to be invested. To start an LLP, at least 2 partners are required. They can be individual or non-individual, Indian or foreign in origin. Once established and incorporated, an LLP can admit any number of partners as the Limited Liability Partnership Act does not prescribe a maximum limit for the same.
2. A defined business activity of the company / LLP
Like a company, the partners of an LLP also do not participate in its management. Instead, to control the management, the partners appoint Designated Partners from among themselves. These Designated Partners also act as the agent of the LLP whenever required. Only individual partners or individual nominees of non-individual partners can act as Designated partners in an LLP. To start an LLP, a minimum of 2 designated partners are required. However, the maximum prescribed strength of the designated partner is 15.
3. Applicant should be well versed with MCA Portal
Out of all the Designated Partners appointed in an LLP, at least one of the designated partners must be resident in India. For the purpose of LLP incorporation, Section 7 of the Limited Liability Act, 2008, defines a resident Indian as one who has lived in India for more than 182 days in the previous financial year.

Process of Reserving the Name of Company/LLP

STEP 1 – Select legally valid name & search its availability
The proposed name of a Company or LLP is considered to be legally valid only if it complies with all the guidelines mentioned above. Precisely, you need to ensure that the proposed name is not similar or identical to the name of any existing company or LLP, and does not infringe any applied or registered trademarks. For this, you can search the proposed name/s in the publicly available databases containing the names of all incorporated companies, LLPs, and trademarks, or you can simply submit the proposed name/s to us, and we will prepare a detailed report analyzing their validity and availability.
STEP 2 – Fill Application for Name reservation
Filing the name reservation application is an online process at www.mca.gov.in. For company name reservation the application is filed in Part A of the Spice Plus form and for LLP the application is filed in RUN Form. More than one name may be proposed for the consideration of the ROC, and the applicant must order the names in their priority.
STEP 3 – Pay the Application fee
Once the application is filled out, it can be submitted online on the MCA website itself, after the payment of the prescribed application/government fees. The government fee for the company name reservation application is Rs.1000, while for the LLP it is Rs. 200.
STEP 4 – Check status of application
Upon successful submission of the name reservation application, you need to consistently track its status. The status could either be approved, sent for resubmission, or rejected. After the names submitted in the first application are invalidated by the Registrar, CRC, the application will be sent for resubmission where you can change the names and submit the form again without paying any new application fees. You get two such chances of resubmission in case of RUN, and one in case of PART A of SPICE plus form, before your application gets finally rejected or approved by the Registrar.
STEP 5 – Receive Name Approval Letter
Once the proposed name is approved by the Registrar, CRC, a name approval letter shall be issued to the applicant company/LLP. This approval letter is conclusive proof that the Registrar, CRC has reserved the name of your company. However, if the application is rejected, you will receive a rejection letter, after which a fresh application will have to be filed following the same process.

How Can Setindiabiz Help?

The reservation of your company’s / LLP’s name primarily involves two steps, namely, selecting an appropriate and valid name, and obtaining approval over it from the concerned authority. However, both these steps have several legal intricacies that only professionals with expertise in the field can comprehend. For instance, to select a valid name itself, provisions from 4 different laws have to be considered.
Even after you somehow manage to select a name that complies with all these laws, you will have to check if it’s available for your use. Moreover, even if you have proposed a name that has a 100% chance of approval, your application can still be rejected for a number of reasons.

Sounds Exhaustive, Right?

Well, you need not worry as this is exactly what we are here for! Once you subscribe to our services of name reservation, we will take care of your concerns all the way through, be it the selection of an appropriate name, or filing an application for its approval. We stay with you even after the application is submitted and consistently track its status, till the name approval letter is finally issued. In case resubmissions are needed, we do that for you as well!
So, what are you waiting for? Contact our Startup advisors immediately, if you are looking forward to naming your newly established company/LLP or change the name of an existing one!

FAQs on name reservation of company & LLP

After your RUN form is approved, the name proposed in the form is reserved for use by the applicant entity, implying that the company can now be incorporated with this reserved name.
The prescribed form for Name Reservation depends on the type of entity you are applying it for. For a company, you can use PART A of the SPICe+ Form. For an LLP, you can use the RUN (Reserve Unique Name) form.
The RUN or Reserve Unique Name is an e-form introduced by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for the approval and reservation of the name of new LLPs, and changing the name of existing companies/LLPs. The form is submitted to the Registrar of the Central Registration Center. On the other hand, the names of new companies are reserved in PART A of the SPICe Plus form.
TThe entities who can use the RUN application include
  • New LLP (for reserving its new name)
  • Existing Companies & LLPs (for changing current name)
After approval & reservation by the Registrar, the name is valid only for 20 days, within which the application for the incorporation of the company/LLP with the concerned name must be filed to the Registrar of Companies.
Yes, RUN form can be resubmitted more than one time. There is no need to pay an application fee for the resubmitted application.
The application fees or government fees for RUN form is Rs.1,000.
CIN / LLPIN is required if the form is being filed by an existing company/LLP for name change. However, it will not be required in case of a new LLP using it for name reservation.
After your RUN form is approved, the name proposed in the form is reserved for use by the applicant entity, implying that the company can now be incorporated with this reserved name.