As a business owner, you are allowed to choose any name you want for your new business, but there are limitations you need to be aware of. The most important one being that, for certain types of companies, two entities cannot carry the same name. These company types are the following: limited liability company, partnerships limited by shares, joint stock company, and a single member company.

For this reason, your lawyer will issue you a trade name non-confusion certificate before you are allowed to use a certain name for your company.

Also, issuing a trade name non-confusion certificate is a great way to avoid repetition and have a unique name

The trade name non-confusion certificate your lawyer will need to issue for you is the topic of today’s blog.

Now! These are the questions we will be answering for you today: How can you make sure that your chosen company name has not been used before? What is a trade name non-confusion certificate? How does your lawyer apply for it? How long is it valid?

What is a non-confusion certificate?

A non-confusion certificate is issued at GAFI, this certificate validates your chosen company name to make sure it is the first name of it’s kind. It also puts the name on hold for you until you finish the incorporation process. This is to protect both you and other companies from undue repetition.

How can you apply for a non-confusion certificate?

our lawyer does this for you. Hekouky will do this for you. You do not need to worry about this.

How long does it take to issue a non-confusion certificate?

It only takes 30 minutes to issue a trade name non-confusion certificate at GAFI. Again, your lawyer will get you sorted in no time.

Yes. It has a validity period of 15 days. During this period your company name is reserved and cannot be used by another entrepreneur.

What are the types of companies that you need to issue a non-confusion certificate for ? Are you starting one of these companies?

This certificate is only needed for capital companies : Partnerships limited by shares, Joint stock company, Limited liability company, and single member company.

How many options/names should you give your lawyer for them to be able to issue the non confusion certificate quickly for you?

You should provide your lawyer approximately 5 names ordered by preference for you. This will allow her/ him, once at GAFI to find an appropriate name for your company and one that is just unique to your company.