What a Nuans report provides:
Nuans reports list similar corporate names and trademarks. A Nuans report is valid for 90 days. If the 90-day period has ended, you must order a new Nuans report to submit. Getting a report does not mean that your proposed name has been approved. It simply means that the name has been reserved for you for 90 days while it is being reviewed for approval. The approval process varies by jurisdiction. Required to obtain NUANS Reservation Report for each Province /Territory business registration process to complete and name approval.
Find out if the name is taken or Not:
In most cases, if someone is already using a name, you cannot legally use it. By law, the name of your business can’t be the same as or very similar to an existing corporate name or trade-mark. Even when it is legal to use an existing business name, it can be a disastrous marketing mistake. You should check to see whether a name is taken or not with us in the Pre-search section.
Select a good name:
Keep these things in mind when choosing a name for your business:
- Be sure it reflects the product or service you offer or you may confuse prospective customers
- Think about how you want your business to be perceived
- Pick something that is easy to pronounce and remember
- Make it unique and distinctive to avoid confusion and legal issues
Requirements:
Business corporations, not-for-profit corporations, and cooperatives must comply with certain naming requirements under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, and the Canada Cooperatives Act.
Name Requirements:
Your corporate names prefer:
- Be distinctive
- Contain a mandatory term, if required.
- Not cause confusion with any existing corporate names, business names, or trademarks
- Not contain any prohibited terms
- Not suggest governmental or institutional sponsorship or control
- Not be Misdescriptive
Distinctiveness:
The key to naming your corporation is that the name must be distinctive. This means that the name should distinguish your corporation from any other business. Your name will not be distinctive if it only describes the activities, the goods and services or the characteristics of the goods and services of your corporation. The name “Car Manufacturer Inc.” lacks distinctiveness since it describes the activities of all car manufacturers. Made-up words can make a name distinctive. They can be a combination of two dictionary words such as “Virtuocomp” or something completely new such as “Dweedag”. Unusual names tend to be very distinctive because they are unique.
Contain a mandatory term (if required):
A: Legal Suffix: Mandatory Terms by Business Type
| Business corporations – Legal elements | Not-for-profit corporations – Prescribed terms | Cooperative –Mandatory words |
| When you are naming your business corporation, you must include one of the following legal elements: Limitée, Limited, Incorporée, Incorporated, Société par actions de régime fédéral, Corporation, Ltée, Ltd., Inc., S.A.R.F., or Corp. | If you want a numbered name for your not-for-profit corporation, you must include one of the following prescribed terms: Association, Center, Centre, Fondation, Foundation, Institut, Institute or Society. A prescribed term is not mandatory for a word name. | When you are naming your cooperative, you must include one of the following words or a word of the same family: Cooperative, Co-operative, United, Pool, Coop, Co-op, or Coopérative. |
B: First name and family names:
Your corporate name can include a first name or a family name, or both. Generally, a corporate name that consists only of an individual’s name is not considered distinctive. If your proposed corporate name contains an individual’s family name:
- the individual, heir or representatives must give written consent to the use of the name and
- the individual has or had a material interest in the corporation, or, in the case of a not-for-profit corporation, a personal interest in the corporation.
C: Geographic names:
Your corporate name can include a geographic name. Geographic names cannot be used alone as a corporate name.
Confusion with other names or trademarks:
As a general rule, you cannot choose a name that causes confusion with an existing corporate name, business name or trademark. When the names of two distinct businesses are so similar that someone could think that they are the same business, those names are considered to be confusing. When you are choosing your name, consider doing some research to find out if your proposed name could be confused with an existing corporate name, business name or trademark in Canada. Your proposed corporate name will be compared with similar corporate names, business names or trademarks listed on your Nuans name search report. If similarities are found, you will have to provide additional information explaining why the use of the proposed name would not cause confusion with an existing name or trademark. Some of the differences you may wish to highlight include:
- nature of the goods, services, or business
- nature of the trade with which the name or trademark is associated
- clientele of the business
- geographical area in which the corporate name, business name or trademark is likely to be used.
Prohibited terms:
A proposed corporate name cannot include any of the following words:
- “Parliament Hill” or “Colline du Parlement”
- “Royal Canadian Mounted Police”, “RCMP”, “Gendarmerie royale du Canada” or “GRC”
- “United Nations”, “UN”, “Nations Unies” or “ONU” (if it connotes a relationship with the United Nations)
- “Cooperative”, “Co-op”, “Pool” or “Coopérative” if it connotes a cooperative venture (unless you are incorporating a cooperative).
Your corporate name cannot contain an obscene word or phrase or that suggests a business that is obscene.
Names that suggest governmental or institutional sponsorship or control
Unless the corporation obtains the written consent of the concerned party, a corporate name should not imply that the corporation:
- carries on business under royal or governmental patronage
- is sponsored by the Government of Canada, a provincial or territorial government, or a foreign government
- is connected with a university or a professional association
- carries on the business of a financial institution or intermediary, or
- carries on the business of a stock exchange.
Mis-descriptive names:
A proposed corporate name cannot mislead the public with respect to:
- the business, goods, or services which with the name is related
- conditions under which the goods or services will be produced or supplied
- persons to be employed in the production or supply of the goods or services
- place of origin of the goods or services.