Choosing A Name for Your Business

Please consider that there are over 13,000 sole proprietorship, partnership and corporate names registered with YTG Corporate Affairs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. General Principles of Name Approval In Canada
2. Naming Guidelines
3. Non-Profit Organizations
4. Where can a business name be researched?

1. General Principles of Name Approval In Canada

The principles and practices for the name approval process described below are used in every jurisdiction in Canada. They have been refined and tested in the courts over many years.

In determining which names are to be registered and which are to be rejected, the Registrar must keep in mind two principles governed by the law of unfair competition.

• The consumer is protected from buying goods or services from or dealing with the wrong person and;
• The merchant is protected from having his trade unfairly diverted to another merchant.

The goal of any name qualification system is to prevent, as far as possible, unfair competition litigation with respect to trade names.

Name granting requires case by case examination of the individual factors surrounding each proposed name. Thus a name must be composed of three elements and each element is considered as part of the whole name:

• a distinctive element which is the unique identifier of the business;
• a descriptive element which describes the main aspect of the business;
• and a legal element when the name is used by a corporation.

Distinctiveness is considered to be the quality that actually distinguishes the business from the business of others. Distinctiveness can be inherent or acquired (secondary meaning).

A business name must be distinctive, it must not be too general in character and it should not merely describe in any language, the quality, function or other characteristic of the goods and services to be undertaken.

A word by itself may not be distinctive but it would be distinctive when used in combination with other words.

The most inherently unique names have distinctive features which are composed of letters which have no particular meaning, for example GADIW or GIFF .

A name is too general if it could apply to any products or services. For example, International Trading Inc. is a name that would be rejected.

With a strong or unusual descriptive feature, a distinctive feature that is too general may actually be granted, for example International Heli-Dredge Ltd.

A tradename is prohibited where the name is not distinctive because it is only descriptive of the quality, function or other characteristic of the goods or services in which the business will deal.

Names such as Car Rentals Ltd. or Big Game Outfitting Ltd. will be refused on the principle that the names only describe the type of business. Tilden Car Rentals Ltd. and Big Bucks Big Game Outfitter Ltd. would be approved. However, two descriptive words combined in a unique and fanciful way become very distinctive and therefore acceptable if not confusing with any existing name, for example The Pant Pit or The Great Canadian Car Company.

The concept of, "too general" is difficult but suffice to say that a trade name that uses a very common and overused so-called distinctive word, example Yukon, with an over used and nonspecific descriptive word, example Gold, is not available for use.

An overused distinctive word with an unusual descriptive word, or an unusual distinctive word with an overused descriptive word, would have some distinctiveness and would probably be acceptable.

In keeping with the above general principles of name approval Wilderness Retreat - Vacation Properties was rejected for registration because it describes only goods and services to be offered, is too general and lacks distinctiveness.

The Registrar has determined that "Wilderness" in the context of Wilderness Retreat - Vacation Properties and of Yukon in general is not a distinctive element.

There are approximately 65 corporate, partnership and trade names already registered which contain the descriptive element "Wilderness ".

Canada's Yukon, the Yukon Tourism magazine, in the Sport fishing & Adventure Travel Directory contains 5 pages of inserts by tourism promoters. Of the 97 companies listed, 20 of these contain "Wilderness" as a descriptive element in their name. The noun "wilderness" is used in the context of promoting business 17 times - describing expeditions, areas, camping tours, lodges, cabins, recreation camps, tours, guides, pristine areas, homestead vacations. In addition some of these companies publish their own brochures which use "wilderness " to describe the quality of experience a client will expect - see Kanoe People, Cloudberry Adventures, Michie Creek Mushing.

Southwind Wilderness Retreat is registered as a partnership name and advertises itself in the directory.

Because the term "wilderness" has been used so often in Yukon as a name element and as a descriptive element in promotional material it has lost any sense of distinctiveness. In addition there is already a name in use, Southwind Wilderness Retreat , that must be taken into consideration when approving a name made up of similar constituent parts.

2. Naming Guidelines

• Is the proposed name distinctive, descriptive and legal ?
• Is the proposed name too general ?
• Is the proposed name prohibited by any Act, Regulation or Policy?

Distinctive:

This element is the main identifier of your business name. This is the part of the name that sets it apart from other businesses of the same type. Every business name must have a distinctive element.

• Onyx Game Farm Limited

Descriptive:

The descriptive element describes the main aspect of the business.

• OnyxGame Farm Limited

Legal:

The legal element indicates the status of the organization as a corporate body. Sole proprietorship and and partnership names do not have a legal element.

• Onyx Game Farm Limited - Incorporated Company
• (There are several other forms that are used to identify a corporation: Ltd. - Limited - Corp. - Corporation - Incorporated - Inc.)
• Onyx Game Farm - Sole proprietorship or Partnership name

Too General:

Names that are too general usually lack the distinctive element. They infringe on existing registered names, thus leading to confusion among the public. Names which are too general will also limit the number of names available to the public in the future.

• Game Farm Limited - would be rejected

Name Not to Suggest Connection With Government:
A business name should not suggest or imply a connection with any government or government department. Example:

• Whitehorse Sport and Recreation - would be rejected
• Sport and Recreation Stores of Whitehorse - OK
• Taxation Services of Canada - would be rejected
• Berde Taxation Services - OK

Name Not To Suggest Connection With Crown
A business name must not suggest a connection with the Crown, the Royal Family or Royal Patronage. Example:

• Princess Di's Variety Store - would be rejected

Where Royal Patronage is not suggested as in using "Royal" in the context of majestic, grand, etc., restrictions do not apply. Example:

• Royal Savings Hotel - OK

Name Not to Suggest Connection With A First Nation
A business name must not suggest a connection with a First Nation without the consent of that First Nation. Example:

• First Nations Accounting - Rejected unless written consent received from CYFN
• Liard Band Woodworks - Rejected unless written consent from Liard First Nation

Prohibited Words Or Expressions:

The following words and expressions shall not be used in a name:

• "Amalgamated" unless a corporation is the result of the amalgamation of two or more corporations.
• "College, Institute or University " unless written consent is received from the Department of Education.
• "Engineer" or "Engineering " or any variation thereof, except with the consent of the Association of Professional Engineers of Yukon.
• "Royal " where used as a prefix except with the consent of the Crown through the Secretary of State.
• Numerals indicating the year of incorporation unless the corporation is the successor to a corporation with a similar name.
• "Yukon " in a context that indicates Association with the Government of the Yukon.

Note: The name of any province in any part of a business name will be rejected, unless it is accompanied by a letter of approval from that jurisdiction.

3. Non-Profit Organizations

A society name, to distinguish it from a corporation incorporated or registered under the Business Corporations Act or a partnership/trade name registered under the Partnership and Business Names Act , shall have one of the following terms included somewhere in its name:

Society, Guild, Association, Club, Volunteers, Organization, Task Force, Church, Mission, Alliance, Council, Coalition, League, Group.

The name of a society must be such that it will not be confused with existing names of societies, corporations, partnerships or trade names.

The name must not mislead or confuse the public as to the nature of the society its activities, nor its relationship to other societies.

When choosing a name for a society, all of the other naming guidelines should be followed.

4. Where can a business name be researched?

• Corporate Affairs
• City Directories
• Trade Mark Publications
• Library
• Chamber of Commerce
• Municipal By-Law Office
• Tourism Brochures

When you have chosen a name, check with Corporate Affairs' staff  to ensure there are no conflicts with existing names and that it complies with Acts, Regulations and/or Policies.

A Corporate name must undergo further examination by comparison to names already used elsewhere in Canada. Corporate Affairs conducts these name searches on request for a fee.

Once approved, the name may be registered immediately or reserved for one 90 day period during which time the registration process must occur.

Contact(s):
Corporate Affairs
Department of Community Services
Government of Yukon
P.O. Box 2703
Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2C6
Telephone: (867) 667-5314
Toll Free (In Yukon): 1-800-661-0408, local 5314
Fax: (867) 393-6251
E-mail: corporateaffairs@gov.yk.ca
Web site: http://www.community.gov.yk.ca/corp/index.html

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this document is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. Users concerned about the reliability of the information should consult directly with the source, or seek legal counsel.

Links Policy
Some of the hypertext links lead to non-federal government sites which are not subject to the Official Languages Act and the material is available in one language only.