Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Registration Administration of Enterprise Names

• Document Number：Announcement No. 52 of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality
• Area of Law： Industrial and Commercial Management
• Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations
• Date issued：06-16-2005
• Effective Date：09-01-2005
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： Shanghai Municipality People's Congress (incl. Standing Committee)

Announcement of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality
(No. 52)
The Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Registration Administration of Enterprise Names, which were adopted at the 20th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality on June 16, 2005, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of September 1, 2005.
Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality
June 16, 2005
Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Registration Administration of Enterprise Names
(Adopted at the 20th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality on June 16, 2005)
Article 1 These Provisions are formulated according to the Provisions on the Registration Administration of Enterprise Names and other laws and administrative regulations and by taking the actual situation of this Municipality into consideration for the purpose of regulating the registration of enterprise names, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the owners of enterprise names, and maintaining the fair and orderly competition order.
Article 2 These Provisions are applicable to the registration of enterprise names within the administrative division of this Municipality and the related administrative activities.
Article 3 The Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce shall be responsible for examining and approving the enterprise names prefixed by the name of this municipal administrative division; and the branch offices of industry and commerce at the county level shall be responsible for examining and approving the enterprise names prefixed by the name of the administrative division of their respective counties. (The Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce and the branch offices of industry and commerce at the county level are hereinafter referred to as the registration organ in general.)
The Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce may entrust the branch thereof to accept and preliminarily examine the applications for enterprise names within their own jurisdictions.
Article 4 An enterprise name shall be comprised of the name of an administrative division, proper name, industrial section or management characteristic as well as the organizational form.
An enterprise shall, based on its main business, indicate the industrial sector to which it belongs or its management characteristic in its name according to the categories specified in the national industrial classification standards.
An cross-sector enterprise may not indicate the industrial sector to which it belongs or its management characteristic in its name unless it is otherwise prescribed by the laws or administrative regulations.
Article 5 An enterprise name for which an application for registration is filed shall be easily distinguished and shall not be identical with or approximate to any enterprise name in the same industry that has been registered at the registration organ.
The expression “identical with an enterprise name” as mentioned in the preceding Paragraph refers to the enterprise name applied for by an applicant that is totally identical with any enterprise name that has been registered at the registration organ.
The expression “approximate to an enterprise name” as mentioned in the preceding Paragraph refers to the enterprise name applied for by an applicant that is under any of the following circumstances with any enterprise name that has been registered at the registration organ:
(1)Both enterprise names contain the expression of industrial sector and have the same proper name and the same words for expressing the industrial section therein, but their organizational forms are unlike;
(2)Both enterprise names contain the expression of industrial sector and have the same proper name therein, and the words for expressing the industrial section are unlike but with the same meaning;
(3)Both enterprise names contain the expression of industrial sector therein, both proper names are identical in both pronunciation and spelling, and the words for expressing the industrial section therein are similar or with the same meaning;
(4)Neither enterprise name contains the expression of industrial sector therein, their proper names are identical, however, their organizational forms are different; and
(5)Neither enterprise name contains the expression of industrial sector therein, the pronunciation of their proper names are identical in pronunciation and similar in spelling.
Article 6 The proper name in an enterprise name shall be comprised by two or more Chinese characters.
No enterprise name for which an application for registration is filed may contain the following contents or Chinese characters:
(1)violating social public benefits or social ethics;
(2)making the general public misunderstand the assets relationship or industrial section engaged in;
(3)likely to be confused with the name of any other legal person or organization, and making the general public produce misunderstanding; or
(4)other circumstances that may lead the general public to misunderstanding.
Article 7 An enterprise name for which an application for registration is filed shall be approved by the registration organ unless it is under any of the circumstances of prohibition as prescribed by any law, administrative regulation, or Article 5 or 6 of these Provisions.
Article 8 To apply for the registration of an enterprise name, an applicant shall submit an application for advance approval of an enterprise name that is signed by the initiator or all the investors.
Where the initiator or investor designates a representative or entrust an agent to conduct the registration of the enterprise name, he shall also submit a certificate as signed by the initiator or all the investors on the appointment of the representative or the entrustment of the agent as well as the identification card of the representative or the agent.
Article 9 As to the applications for the registration of enterprise names filed by the applicants, the registration organ or the branch office of industry and commerce that accepts the entrustment of the registration organ for accepting and preliminarily examining the applications for enterprise names shall separately decide whether or not accept them according to the following circumstances:
(1)deciding to accept an application where the application materials are complete and comply with the statutory forms, or the applicant has submitted the supplemented and corrected application materials as required, or the person that has the right to make corrections has corrected the errors in the application materials on the spot; or
(2)deciding not to accept an application and informing the applicant, once and for all, of all the contents that should be supplemented and corrected where the application materials are not complete or do not comply with the statutory forms.
Where an application is filed by means of mail, fax, electric data exchange or e-mail, the registration organ shall decide whether or not accept it within five working days as of the day when the application is received.
Article 10 As to an accepted application for the registration of an enterprise name, the registration organ shall make a decision of approval or disapproval on the spot unless the application materials need to be verified or a hearing should be held according to these Provisions; as to an application for the registration of an enterprise name that is accepted by any branch office of industry and commerce authorized for preliminary examination, the registration organ shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within five working days as of the date of acceptance; or shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within ten working days as of the date of acceptance where the application materials are required to be verified.
Where an application for the registration of an enterprise name is accepted by means of mail, fax, electric data exchange or e-mail, the registration organ shall make a decision of approval or disapproval pursuant to the relevant provisions of the state.
Where the registration organ makes a decision of approval of an application for the registration of an enterprise name, it shall issue a Notice on Advance Approval of the Enterprise Name; if it makes a decision of disapproval, it shall issue a Notice on Disapproval of the Enterprise Name and inform the applicant of the reasons and the right to lodge an administrative reconsideration or administrative lawsuit.
Article 11 An enterprise that plans to alter its name shall file an application for alteration registration of the enterprise name with the registration organ.
As to an application for alteration registration of the enterprise name filed by an applicant, the registration organ shall make a decision of approval or disapproval pursuant to the provisions on the registration of enterprise names as prescribed in these Provisions or the relevant laws or administrative regulations.
Article 12 The name of an enterprise's branch shall be prefixed by the name of the enterprise to which it is affiliated.
An enterprise's branch shall apply for the alteration registration of its name within 30 days as of the day when the alteration of the name of the enterprise to which it is affiliated is approved; an enterprise's branch that intends to alter its name shall file an application for the alteration registration of the name of the branch with the registration organ.
Article 13 An enterprise name whose registration is approved shall be automatically invalidated if it still has not been used for the establishment registration of the enterprise after the preservation period as prescribed by the laws or administrative regulations expires.
Article 14 Where the people's court rules to stop the use of a registered enterprise name and has sent a Notice on Assisted Enforcement to the registration organ, the registration organ shall notify the enterprise to go through the alteration registration of the enterprise name within three months.
Article 15 Where any interested party, before the registration organ makes a decision on an application for the registration of enterprise name, considers that the enterprise name for which an application for registration is filed is identical with or approximate to any enterprise name that has been registered and files an application for hearing, the registration organ shall organize one.
The registration organ may, basing on the necessity, organize experts, scholars and representatives of the general public to participate in the hearing.
Article 16 In case an enterprise fails to go thorough the alteration registration of its name pursuant to Article 14 of these Provisions, the registration organ may impose a fine of 5000 yuan up to 50000 yuan on the enterprise.
As to any other act against these Provisions for which the punishment shall be given under the Provisions on the Registration Administration of Enterprise Names or the relevant laws or regulations, a punishment shall be given according to the provisions.
Article 17 The registration of the names of individual industrial and commercial households within this Municipality shall be implemented by referring to these Provisions.
Article 18 These Provisions shall come into force as of September 1, 2005.