Provisions on the administration of enterprise name registration
Article 1 These Provisions are formulated in order to strengthen the management of enterprise names, protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and maintain social and economic order.
Article 2 These Provisions shall apply to legal person enterprises and other enterprises that need to be registered according to law in China.
Article 3 When an enterprise applies for registration, the enterprise name approved by the enterprise name registration authority shall prevail. The enterprise name can be used only after it has been approved and registered, and it enjoys the exclusive right within the prescribed scope.
Article 4 The competent authorities for enterprise name registration (hereinafter referred to as the registration authority) are the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and local administrations for industry and commerce at various levels. The registration authority approves or rejects the application for enterprise name registration, supervises and manages the use of enterprise names, and protects the exclusive right to use enterprise names.
The registration authority shall, in accordance with the Regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) Municipality on the Administration of the Registration of Enterprise Legal Persons, implement the hierarchical registration administration of enterprise names. The name of a foreign-invested enterprise shall be approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Article 5 The registration authority has the right to correct the registered inappropriate enterprise name, and the higher registration authority has the right to correct the inappropriate enterprise name registered by the lower registration authority.
Any unit or individual may request the registration authority to correct the registered inappropriate enterprise name.
Article 6 An enterprise is only allowed to use one name, and it shall not be the same as or similar to the name of a registered enterprise in the same industry within the jurisdiction of the registration authority.
If there are special needs, with the approval of the registration authority at or above the provincial level, enterprises can use subordinate names within the prescribed scope.
Article 7 The name of an enterprise consists of the following parts in turn: name (or trade name, the same below), industry or business characteristics, and organizational form.
The name of an enterprise shall be preceded by the name of the administrative division of the province (including autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the same below) or city (including states, the same below) or county (including municipal districts, the same below) where the enterprise is located.
With the approval of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the enterprise names of the following enterprises may not be preceded by the name of the administrative division where the enterprise is located:
(1) Enterprises listed in Article 13 of these Provisions;
(2) Enterprises with a long history and well-known trademarks;
(3) Enterprises with foreign investment.
Article 8 Chinese characters shall be used in the names of enterprises, and the names of enterprises in ethnic autonomous areas may also use the national characters commonly used in ethnic autonomous areas.
Where an enterprise uses a foreign name, its foreign name shall be consistent with the Chinese name, and it shall report to the registration authority for registration.
Article 9 An enterprise name shall not contain the following contents and words:
(a) detrimental to the interests of the state and society;
(two) may cause deception or misunderstanding to the public;
(3) Names of foreign countries (regions) and international organizations;
(four) the name of the political party, the name of the party, government and military organs, the name of the mass organization, the name of the social organization and the number of the army;
(5) Chinese phonetic letters (except those used in foreign names) and numbers;
(6) It is prohibited by other laws and administrative regulations.
Article 10 An enterprise may choose a font size. The font size should consist of more than two words.
Enterprises may use local or foreign masterpieces for justified reasons, but they may not use the names of administrative divisions at or above the county level as font sizes.
Private enterprises can use the investor's name as the font size.
Article 11 An enterprise shall indicate its industry or operating characteristics in its name according to its main business and the categories classified according to the national industry classification standards.
Article 12 An enterprise shall indicate the organizational form in its name according to its organizational structure or responsibility form. The marked organizational form must be clear and easy to understand.
Thirteenth the following enterprises can apply to use the words "China", "China" or "international" in their enterprise names:
(1) national company;
(2) Large import and export enterprises approved by the State Council or its authorized organs;
(3) A large enterprise group approved by the State Council or its authorized organ;
(4) Other enterprises as stipulated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Article 14 Where an enterprise establishes a branch, the enterprise name of the enterprise and its branch shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Where the word "general" is used in the name of an enterprise, there must be more than three branches;
(2) For a branch that cannot bear civil liability independently, the name of its enterprise shall be preceded by the words "branch", "branch" and "branch", and the name or place name of the branch's industry and local administrative division shall be indicated, but if its industry is consistent with its subordinate enterprises, it may be omitted;
(3) A branch that can independently bear civil liability shall use an independent enterprise name, and may use a font size in the enterprise names of its subordinate enterprises;
(4) Where a branch that can independently bear civil liability establishes other branches, the established branch shall not use the name of the head office in its enterprise name.
Article 15 The enterprise name of a joint venture may use the names of the joint venture members, but the names of the joint venture members shall not be used. A joint venture shall indicate the words "joint venture" or "joint venture" in its enterprise name.
Article 16 If an enterprise has special reasons, it may apply for enterprise name registration separately in advance before starting industrial and commercial registration. To apply for enterprise name registration separately in advance, an application signed by the person in charge of enterprise formation, the draft articles of association and the approval documents of the competent department or the examination and approval authority shall be submitted.
Article 17 A foreign-invested enterprise shall separately apply for enterprise name registration in advance after the project proposal and feasibility study report are approved and before the contract and articles of association are approved. When an enterprise with foreign investment applies for enterprise name registration separately in advance, it shall submit the application signed by the person in charge of enterprise establishment, the project proposal, the approval document of the feasibility study report, and the legal business start certificate issued by the relevant competent authorities of the country (region) where the investor is located.
Article 18 The registration authority shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within 10 days from the date of receiving all the materials submitted by the enterprise separately in advance to apply for enterprise name registration.
After the registration authority has approved the name of an enterprise that has separately applied for registration in advance, it will issue the Enterprise Name Registration Certificate.