a) PROHIBITED NAMES:

• Names that are identical or closely similar to names already registered or reserved.
• Names that are capable of misleading as to nature or extent of the activities of the company.
• Names that are undesirable, offensive or otherwise contrary to public policy.
• Names that would violate any existing trade mark or business name except with the written consent of the owner of the trade mark or business name addressed to the Commission together with a copy of its certificate.

b) RESTRICTED NAMES

• Names that require prior consent of the Commission before application for name reservation is submitted.
• Names that contain the words ‘Chamber of Commerce’ which must only be registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee.
• All proposed names to be registered as Companies Limited by Guarantee.
• Names that contain any of the following words: National, Federal, State, Government, Municipal, Chartered, Corporate Society, Building Society.
• Any other word that suggests that the company enjoys the patronage of Government or any of its Ministries, Departments or Agencies.
• Names that contains the word ‘Group’, ‘Holding’ or ‘Consortium’

c) APPLYING FOR CONSENT:

Application for Consent for restricted name should be addressed to the Registrar-General and submitted at the Head office or through any of the State offices together with evidence of payment of consent fee of ₦5,000.  Please see Companies Regulation 2012 for requirements for consent.

NAME AVAILABILITY CHECK

Please check public search to confirm whether your proposed name is already registered or reserved.  Also note that the Commission reserves the exclusive right to determine the availability of your proposed name. CLICK HERE TO CONDUCT NAME AVAILABILITY CHECK

SUBMIT REQUEST FOR NAME RESERVATION

This attracts a fee of ₦500 per request.  Officers of the Commission will determine from the database whether your proposed name is available before approval.   A decision on your request will be made within a maximum of 12 hours.  Please check the status of your request on the portal after 12 hours of submission. CLICK HERE TO CONDUCT NAME RESERVATION