Name game has businesses in registration spin

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Scores of firms complained they had been asked to alter their business names on registration because the ones they had chosen were similar to those of existing enterprises. This demand had significantly lengthened the time required for business registration.

“Enterprise names are often very carefully selected as they not only carry the message businesses want to convey to their prospective customers, but may also reflect their ambitions and – sometimes – personal expectations,” said a newly established firm representative. The issue of business names is not merely a matter of ego or personality. 

But businesses cannot currently log on the national business registration system (NBRS) to check if their proposed name will cause issues.

Acknowledging these difficulties, the head of Lao Cai’s Planning and Investment Department’s Business Registry Vu Kim Quy said start-up businesses got an immediate response.

“When receiving registration papers, our staff first enter businesses’ proposed names into the system to check whether they are lawful,” said Quy, adding that department staff often asked start-up businesses to supply a number of proposed names to avoid time-wasting.

A recent case shows how serious the implications of mistaken corporate identity can be. Vinconstec general director Do Viet Tan sent documents to Hanoi’s Tay Ho district Police Department, Hanoi Planning and Investment Department and the National Office of Intellectual Property seeking help after the director of the construction firm Vinconstec 1, Nguyen Trong Dai, was arrested for illegal drug usage.

After Dai’s arrest, the reputation and operations of Vinconstec were seriously affected with many partners believing Vinconstec 1 was the subsidiary of Vinconstec.

Tan said Vinconstec and Vinconstec 1 were entirely two different businesses with no connections.

Meanwhile, the chief technical advisor to the Vietnam-based business registration reform technical support project, Gunnar Koren, said the NBRS would be upgraded to a national portal. It would supply information to the business community including business names and operations and financial reports of joint stock companies.

Start-up firms would then be able to check if their intended names were acceptable. E-payment or e-signature implementation would also pave the way for online business registration in the not too distant future.