Step 1: Picking a good name
Choosing a great name is the first step of any entrepreneurial journey. While the legal name of your company may not directly reflect your brand, it's often easier for clients to identify and remember your business if your legal name is similar to or representative of your brand name.
Legal Requirements for your business name:
When you want to establish a company, there are certain aspects to consider regarding the selection and reservation of the company name. The company name is the designation under which a professional conducts business and signs. Before reservation, the name undergoes verification to ensure it fulfills general and specific legal conditions, including availability and distinction from names already registered or reserved.
The company name must:
- No Korean symbols.
- Not cause confusion with previously registered names. (eg: Metro S.R.L.)
- Not be related to a registered brand (e.g., PepsiCo S.R.L.)
- A name is available if it doesn't already belong to another professional due to prior registration.
Furthermore, a name is distinctive if:
- It isn't generic, usual, or necessary.
- It's not identical or similar to previously registered names in the commercial registry.
- Distinctiveness is assessed through both visual and textual elements. Factors that are NOT considered distinctive include:
- Word order inversion from an already registered or reserved name.
- Doubling of letters or numbers from a registered or reserved name.
- Adding or removing adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, numbers, punctuation, and other vague significances.
- Using different words semantically but identical phonetically.
- Using abbreviations of words from a registered or reserved name.
- Using symbols equivalent to letters and words, e.g., @, #, %.
- The use or non-use of diacritics.
- Adding, removing, or replacing a part of a registered or reserved name that doesnβt change its meaning. Adding the word "Romania" regardless of the language.
Certain terms are restricted and cannot be included in a company name: STRING IN ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:
- The inclusion of words such as "scientific", "academy", "academic", "university", and "school", and their derivatives is prohibited.
- Professional terms like "notary", "executor", "lawyer", "legal advisor", "legal consultancy", and any words associated with professions exercising public authority are not allowed.
- Lastly, the use of terms like "national", "Romanian", and "institute", as well as their derivatives and words or phrases characteristic of central public authorities and institutions, are restricted. This is to prevent any confusion with the names of central or local public authorities or institutions.