In Canada the governments in all of the provinces and territories require some form of name search report prior to incorporating a company and in many Canadian jurisdictions before you register a business name, partnership or sole proprietorship.
Prior to obtaining a Nuans name search report or similar name search, a person who wishes to register a company, partnership, business name or sole proprietorship in Canada will sometimes do a preliminary name search. The preliminary name search weeds out all or most of the similarities to the proposed name. Less money will be wasted if you have this done.
The government reviews the full name search report to ensure there are no conflicts before it allows you to register your business. Some Canadian jurisdictions such as the federal jurisdiction will reject a name even if it sounds like another name and is spelled differently.
When you order a Nuans Name Search or name search report with a search house normally the search house will do a preliminary name search as part of the service. You should ask this in advance or confirm this on the website of the search house. You should not have to pay for both a preliminary and a full name search separately. The only time a preliminary name search should be paid for separately is if you are registering a business name, proprietorship or partnership and the province or territory in which you register does not require a full name search. More about that below.
Just because you have a name search (Nuans report) is not a 100% guarantee the government is going to accept your name. If the Nuans search house does not perform preliminary name searches prior to ordering a full Nuans report you should look for another one. A Nuans name search report can be ordered without a preliminary name search but an experienced search house will do a preliminary name search first so you have less chance of your name being rejected by the province or territory in which you wish to register your business without charging you extra.
Think of it this way. Say you plan to incorporate a business with the name Johnson Lawn Services Ltd. The search house you are working with tells you there is no other name registered exactly as that. The search house does not bother to pre-check names as part of their service and there is a name already registered called Johnson Lawn Services Inc. Since the search house has told you there is no exact name you register your company. Mr. Johnson of Johnson Lawn Services Ltd. becomes aware that you have registered a company with almost the exact name except the ending. He considers this competition and since he has had his name for a number of years he decides to sue you to obtain an order to force you to change your company name. It is possible he could obtain an order such as this if he can prove your name is a conflict. This would cause you wasted time and money. Further, would you really want to have a company with a name that close to another company's name. It would also be a problem for you.
When you receive a full name search report or Nuans report you can review the report yourself and should be able to tell if there is a name that is too similar to the name you wish to register. This would be another good idea just to be sure.
A Name search would be accepted for registering a company in Ontario even if the names are almost 100% identical. Referring back to the two names above, these names only differ because of the last word in the name. The Ontario Ministry of Government Services would accept this even though both names are very close. This would not be the case with the federal government since they are more careful with name acceptances.
If you are registering a business in Alberta, Ontario and possibly some of the other provinces or territories in Canada, you do not need a name search in order to register your name. The government does not as a practice pre-check these types of names and therefore it is your responsibility to make sure you do not have a name similar to another name. You could still be taken to court if you do not ensure your name is different than others. Actually the corporate governments in Ontario and Alberta allow for business names to be registered that are exactly alike.
In these cases it is a good idea to do a preliminary name search which you would need to pay for. Therefore in a case where you do not have to provide a name search report to register a business name, partnership or sole proprietorship, you should do a preliminary name search. Keep in mind that many search houses will do the preliminary name search for free if you chose their service to register your business name, however, if you have any concerns about that just write them and ask them what the policy is before you purchase.
Prior to obtaining a Nuans name search report or similar name search, a person who wishes to register a company, partnership, business name or sole proprietorship in Canada will sometimes do a preliminary name search. The preliminary name search weeds out all or most of the similarities to the proposed name. Less money will be wasted if you have this done.
The government reviews the full name search report to ensure there are no conflicts before it allows you to register your business. Some Canadian jurisdictions such as the federal jurisdiction will reject a name even if it sounds like another name and is spelled differently.
When you order a Nuans Name Search or name search report with a search house normally the search house will do a preliminary name search as part of the service. You should ask this in advance or confirm this on the website of the search house. You should not have to pay for both a preliminary and a full name search separately. The only time a preliminary name search should be paid for separately is if you are registering a business name, proprietorship or partnership and the province or territory in which you register does not require a full name search. More about that below.
Just because you have a name search (Nuans report) is not a 100% guarantee the government is going to accept your name. If the Nuans search house does not perform preliminary name searches prior to ordering a full Nuans report you should look for another one. A Nuans name search report can be ordered without a preliminary name search but an experienced search house will do a preliminary name search first so you have less chance of your name being rejected by the province or territory in which you wish to register your business without charging you extra.
Think of it this way. Say you plan to incorporate a business with the name Johnson Lawn Services Ltd. The search house you are working with tells you there is no other name registered exactly as that. The search house does not bother to pre-check names as part of their service and there is a name already registered called Johnson Lawn Services Inc. Since the search house has told you there is no exact name you register your company. Mr. Johnson of Johnson Lawn Services Ltd. becomes aware that you have registered a company with almost the exact name except the ending. He considers this competition and since he has had his name for a number of years he decides to sue you to obtain an order to force you to change your company name. It is possible he could obtain an order such as this if he can prove your name is a conflict. This would cause you wasted time and money. Further, would you really want to have a company with a name that close to another company's name. It would also be a problem for you.
When you receive a full name search report or Nuans report you can review the report yourself and should be able to tell if there is a name that is too similar to the name you wish to register. This would be another good idea just to be sure.
A Name search would be accepted for registering a company in Ontario even if the names are almost 100% identical. Referring back to the two names above, these names only differ because of the last word in the name. The Ontario Ministry of Government Services would accept this even though both names are very close. This would not be the case with the federal government since they are more careful with name acceptances.
If you are registering a business in Alberta, Ontario and possibly some of the other provinces or territories in Canada, you do not need a name search in order to register your name. The government does not as a practice pre-check these types of names and therefore it is your responsibility to make sure you do not have a name similar to another name. You could still be taken to court if you do not ensure your name is different than others. Actually the corporate governments in Ontario and Alberta allow for business names to be registered that are exactly alike.
In these cases it is a good idea to do a preliminary name search which you would need to pay for. Therefore in a case where you do not have to provide a name search report to register a business name, partnership or sole proprietorship, you should do a preliminary name search. Keep in mind that many search houses will do the preliminary name search for free if you chose their service to register your business name, however, if you have any concerns about that just write them and ask them what the policy is before you purchase.
About the Author:
Resources for Canadian Business Owners provides information about legal and government services for Canadian businesses as well as further information to Register Company Name.
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