To register a business with the government, you have to come up with a name and search if that name has been used by another business. In this article, you will learn why you need to search for a name before starting the registration process and how to conduct a business name search on CAC portal.
The agency in charge of registering business entities in Nigeria is the corporate affairs commission. Every legal business or NGO operating from Nigeria has to be registered with the corporate affairs commission, hence, the commission has a database for all the registered businesses in the country. Fortunately, this database is available to the public.
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Why should you do a Business name search on CAC
Here are some reasons why you should conduct a business name search before registering your business;
Legal implications
Registering a business name that is identical to or closely resembles an already registered name can lead to legal challenges. You don’t want to be in court when you should be building your business.
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) ensures that every business name in its registry is unique. If the name you intend to register is already in use, your application will be rejected.
Apart from registering businesses in Nigeria, the corporate affairs commission also protects the interest of business owners who have registered their business. They try as much as possible to prevent other people from registering similar or identical names.
Brand Uniqueness
If you will be building a brand with your business name, then it’s important to register a unique name that is in no way similar or identical to another business.
Imagine that there are two registered businesses; one is registered as Okaychukwu and Sons LTD while the other is registered as Okechukwu and Sons Real Estate. These two business are owned by different people.
It will be hard to build a unique brand with this names as the first three words are pronounced the same way even when they have a different spelling. Customers might also assume that both business are owned by the same person. If the founder of Okaychukwu and Sons LTD does something bad and is facing a public trial, it could affect the brand of Okechukwu and Sons Real Estate.
Conducting a name search on the CAC portal helps confirm if you will like to proceed with the name you have in mind.
It saves you time and money
The first step during the CAC business registration process is name reservation. It costs money and time to reserve a name. Name reservations usually take 24 hours.
If you try to reserve a name that has already been registered, the name reservation will be rejected and you’ll have to make another payment to reserve a new name. Searching the portal to know if there are similar names prevents you from wasting time and making multiple payments for name reservation.
Now that you have seen the importance of doing a business name search with CAC, let’s proceed with how to do the search.
How to Conduct a Business Name Search on CAC
Visit the CAC business name search platform and type in your business name in the space provided. Click the search button.
A search result will appear showing businesses bearing similar names. If you see a name that is quite similar to yours, there is a possibility that the name you are planning to reserve will be rejected. It doesn’t matter if the name was registered as a business or limited liability company.
As you should already know, no two businesses can bear the same name.
In some cases, even a slight variation in the name can lead to rejection. Here are some instances
We tried to register Astroscope Educational services for a client but it was rejected by the corporate affairs commission because another business was registered as Astro Educational Services.
We also tried to register “Exployt Media” as a business name for a client but it was rejected because another business was registered as Exploit Media Concept.
If you see a name that is quite similar to your idea, it is better to come up with a new name and conduct the search again.
Other Reasons why a Name might be rejected
One of the reasons why you are conducting this business name search is to get a unique name that will easily be approved by the Corporate affairs commission so that you can proceed with registering the name.
It is worth noting that there are other reasons why a name could be rejected.
A name can be rejected if it is capable of misleading the public into thinking that the business is endorsed or associated with the government. Certain words like “State”, “National”, “Municipal”, “Government” are restricted. These words and other restricted words must not be included in your business name.
Also, a business name that is similar to a proscribed terrorist organisation, cults etc might not be approved.
You should put this into consideration when choosing a name.
After confirming that your business name is unique and has not been registered by someone else, you can proceed with the name registration.
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