For the incorporation of a private limited company or a limited liability partnership, the first step to be undertaken is getting approval for your proposed company name. An application for company name approval can be made online. For this, the general process is as follows:

  • An application in the prescribed manner and on payment of applicable fees is to be submitted with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
  • After reviewing the application for availability of your proposed company name, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs shall either approve or reject the same.

A few TIPS for a faster and easier company name approval process are:

  1. Unique Name:
    Select a unique name. The swiftest hack to ensure your company name approval is by selecting a new and unique word for your company.
  2. Trademark:
    Sometimes companies plan ahead and apply for trademarks well in advance. If your trademark is secured, the company name approval process can be a smooth ride.
  3. Preferences:
    The trick lies in preferences! One must give variations of their name in the preferences. Also, if there is an existing name in a particular type of services, which is different than the type of services by your own company, you may consider adding a few descriptive words in the name.

    For Eg: If XYZ is the proposed name for your medical devices’ company and there is a company by the name XYZ Apparels Pvt. Ltd., then you may consider marking the distinction by naming your company XYZ Medical Devices Pvt. Ltd. or such other names.

  4. Run a company name search:
    To ascertain the chances of success for your approval, one may consider running a search on the MCA website and see how many companies with the same name and similar services already exist.
  5. Run a Trademark search:
    You may consider running a trademark search before actually finalizing your preferences. While you may consult an IP law firm to run a detailed and authentic search, you can do the same yourself, at a preliminary level by visiting the MCA website. In case the name for which you seek approval is already a registered trademark of some other entity, then one is required to submit a No Objection Certificate from the owner of such trademark.
  6. Timeline:
    The company name approval process is now completely automated and digitalized. It takes less than a week to get a company name approval done. Since the digital system rejects the wrong names without discretion, it is important that the name should be unique and new.

Remember: A new approved company name is valid for a period of 20 days only.