Important Information You Should Know Before Ordering Your Ontario Name Search
Written by Holly Crosgrey Sunday, 12 June 2011 03:00
An Nuans Name Search Report is a seven page report which is generated from the Nuans name search system in Canada. This database compares a proposed company name or trade-mark with a database of existing names that have been registered anywhere across Canada. You must obtain a Name Search for the proposed name you intend to use for your company at the time you incorporate. This report allows the government to determine whether your name is available. Any conflicting names will show up on the report.
When registering a sole proprietorship, trade name (also called an business name) or a Ontario partnership you do not have to provide the government with an Name Search. The government does not provide protection for these types of businesses. You should still perform a preliminary name search to ensure the name is not taken to avoid any legal problems in using a name too similar to another name already registered.
It is advisable for you to have a preliminary name search done for the proposed name you wish for your company. If you do not do this and just go straight to ordering an Ontario Nuans Name search report then if there are conflicts on the report you will have to pay again for another search report.
If a search house is reputable it will not charge you for preliminary name searches when you purchase an name search. If you are not ordering an Ontario Nuans Name Search report because it is not required in cases where you are registering business names, proprietorships or partnerships, you should pay for a preliminary name search to be done to ensure the name has not been taken by anyone else. Some search companies will charge you for preliminary name searches when you order a Nuans so be careful about this because it can get expensive and the preliminary name search should be part of the service when ordering a full name search report.
Even though you are not required to obtain a Nuans when registering a trade name or business name in Ontario you should still have the name you wish to use checked. There could still be a conflict with the name and you could be requested to stop using the name if you pick a name that is well known by the public for many years. In order to safeguard against this you should do a preliminary name search on any name you are going to use as a business or trade name, sole proprietorship or partnership.
If you are registering a corporation, you will be required to have a legal element (explained below) but for other registrations such as sole proprietorships, business names and partnerships this will not be necessary. The information herein explains what to look for when using a name for a corporation however the principles can be applied to Ontario business names, partnerships and sole proprietorships as well with the exception of the legal element.
Three elements must be considered when deciding on a name for your Ontario company. (i) the distinctive element of the name (ii) the descriptive element of the name, and (iii) the legal element of the name.
If the name you choose to register is "Gandhi Carpentry Inc. , the distinctive element is the word "Gandhi", which is distinctive because it is a name. Another example of a distinctive element in a name might be "Owen Sound" as in "Owen Sound Garden Supplies Ltd." which is distinctive because it describes a location. "Nanton Dental Services Corp." has the distinctive word "Nanton" in it to make it stand out from other dental service companies. The descriptive element describes the type of business. In "Crosgrey Transportation Services Inc.", the descriptive element is "Transportation Services" which describes the nature of business. In "Grenville Garden Supplies Ltd." the descriptive element is "Garden Supplies" which describes the type of products this business sells. "Dental Services" is the descriptive element for "Starcross Dental Services Corp.".
The Legal Element is the word "Inc." which is a mandatory ending which recognizes the name as the name of a company. In Canada you can have the following endings for your company name: "Inc.", "Incorporated", "Ltd.", "Limited", "Corp.", "Corporation" and the French equivalents of "Ltee." "Limitee", "Inc." (same in English and French) or "Incorporee", The Legal Element distinguishes your proposed corporation name as a share corporation rather than an Ontario partnership, an Ontario business name, an Ontario sole proprietorship or an Ontario non-share corporation.
About the Author:
Resources for Canadian Business Owners performs unlimited preliminary name searches with the purchase of an Ontario Name Search and will pre-check your name for free when you purchase a Register a Business Name. This article, Important Information You Should Know Before Ordering Your Ontario Name Search has free reprint rights.