Business name in Vietnam: How to name your business legally in Vietnam?

Choosing a business name in Vietnam that is impressive and memorable is not a simple thing. This is a matter that takes a lot of time for business founders because a good business name will impress customers more and contribute to the branding of the company. On the contrary, a business name that is difficult to remember or objectionable will create a bad impression on customers.

So, how to name your business legally and impressively in Vietnam? In this article, Warren B will provide customers with provisions of business naming in Vietnam.

Names of businesses in Vietnam

1. The Vietnamese name of a business shall contain two elements in order:
   a) The type of enterprise;
   b) The proper name.
2. The type of enterprise shall be “công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn” or “công ty TNHH” for limited liability companies; “công ty cổ phần” or “công ty CP” for joint stock companies; “công ty hợp danh” or “công ty HD” for partnerships; “doanh nghiệp tư nhân”, “DNTN” or “doanh nghiệp TN” for sole proprietorships.
3. The proper name shall consist of letters in the Vietnamese alphabet, F, J, Z, W, numbers, and symbols.
4. The enterprise’s name shall be displayed at the headquarters, branches, representative offices, and business locations of the enterprise and printed or written on transaction documents, records, and printed materials published by the enterprise.

Prohibited acts of naming business names in Vietnam

1. Use of any name that is identical or confusingly similar to another enterprise’s name.
2. Use of the name of a state authority, the People’s military unit, political organization, socio-political organization, socio-political-professional organization, social organization, social-professional organization as part or all of an enterprise’s name, unless it is accepted by that authority, unit or organization.
3. Use of words or symbols that are against the country’s history, culture, ethical values, and good traditions.

Business name in a foreign language and abbreviated name

1. The enterprise’s name in a foreign language is the name translated from the Vietnamese name into one of the Latin-based languages. The proper name of the enterprises may be kept unchanged or translated into a foreign language.
2. In case an enterprise’s name is in a foreign language, the text size of the foreign name shall be smaller than the Vietnamese name displayed at the enterprise’s headquarters, branches, representative offices, and business locations and on the enterprise’s transaction documents, records and materials published by the enterprise.
3. The abbreviated name of an enterprise may be an abbreviation of its Vietnamese name or foreign language name.

Names of branches, representative offices, and business locations

1. The name of a branch, representative office, or business location shall consist of letters in the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, numbers, and symbols.
2. The name of a branch, representative office, or business location shall consist the enterprise’s name and the phrase “Chi nhánh”, “Văn phòng đại diện” or “Địa điểm kinh doanh” respectively.
3. The name of a branch, representative office or business location shall be displayed at the branch, representative office or business location. The name of an enterprise’s branch or representative office is smaller than the Vietnamese name of the enterprise on the transaction documents, records and printed materials issued by the branch or representative office.

Identical and confusingly similar names

1. Identical name means a Vietnamese name that is chosen by the applying enterprise and is identical to the Vietnamese name of a registered enterprise.
2. A name is considered identical to a registered enterprise’s name in the following cases:
   a) The Vietnamese name of the applying enterprise is pronounced similarly to a registered enterprise’s name;
   b) The abbreviated name of the applying enterprise is identical to the abbreviated name of a registered enterprise;
   c) The foreign language name of the applying enterprise is identical to the foreign-language name of a registered enterprise;
   d) The proper name of the applying enterprise is only different from the proper name of a registered enterprise by a natural number or a letter in the Vietnamese alphabet or any of the letters F, J, Z, or W that is written right after the proper name with or without a space;
   e) The proper name of the applying enterprise is only different from the proper name of a registered enterprise of the same type by the word “và” (“and”) or the symbol “&”, ”, “.”, “,”, “+”, “-”, “_”;
   f) The proper name of the applying enterprise is only different from the proper name of a registered enterprise of the same type by the word “tân” or “mới” (“new”) that is written right before or after the proper name;
   g) The proper name of the applying enterprise is only different from the proper name of a registered enterprise of one of the phrases “miền Bắc” (“north”), “miền Nam” (“south”), “miền Trung” (“central”), “miền Tây” (“west”), “miền Đông” (“east”);
   h) The proper name of the applying enterprise is identical to that of a registered enterprise.
3. The cases specified in Points d, e, f, g, h Clause 2 do not apply to subsidiary companies of the registered company.

That’s all the information about how to name a business in Vietnam Warren B wants to provide. If you have any questions, please contact Warren B for consultancy and answers. We hope that the information above is useful and helps to solve some of your questions.

Warren B – One-stop shop for business in Vietnam.