Executive Yuan Relaxes Business Registration Procedures

 The Executive Yuan recently approved a draft revision of the Business Registration Act to simplify registration procedures and make it easier to start up a business. In the future, an application for registration will involve examination only to see whether the applicant’s name has already been registered by another entity.
Article 28 of the current Business Registration Act stipulates that a business may not register a name that is the same as, or similar to, the name of a company engaging in a similar business that has already been registered in the same city or county. In the future, the examination will be limited to whether or not another business has the same, and not merely a similar, name.
The Executive Yuan explains that Article 20 (counterfeiting of a symbol or a well-known foreign trademark) of the Fair Trade Act contains stipulations regarding unfair competition by an enterprise using a name that is similar to that of another business, and that Article 35 contains punitive provisions. Further, the name of a business enterprise serves as its identity and a distinguishing mark for its different kinds of behavior; there is no need, therefore, to check whether a name is merely similar to another in the course of examination.
The Executive Yuan has also authorized the competent authority of the Central Government to formulate the approval criteria needed to establish a prior examination system for company names and items of business. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is working out the necessary draft, which will be implemented after it has completed the legislative process.

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