So you've come up with the ideal Business Name. You've done a couple of searches and saw that no Business in Trinidad has it. After applying, you receive a notification informing you that the Business name is undesirable, and you want to know why.
Remember, there are thousands of Business names reserved every month. The lawyers employed by the Ministry of Legal Affairs have strict guidelines to which they must comply. Those guidelines prevent confusion, mix-ups, and lawsuits from existing Businesses that already have legal rights to a name.
So here are the possible reasons why your Business name is undesirable, along with some guidelines for correcting it.
The most common reason why Legal officers reject Business names is that they're too close to one that is registered. For instance, if there is a registered Business named "Honey Bees Supermarket," the Companies Registry may not permit the registration of "Honey B's Supermarket," "Honey Supermarket" or even "Honey Bees."
You may have to propose an entirely different name.
If a proposed name may mislead or confuse people as to which Business is which, then the name is unacceptable.
If you're registering a Sole Trader Business, you may not be allowed to use an ambiguous name like "Bikes" or "Trinidad Shop."
The name must be more descriptive or less generic. So, "Mike's Bicycle Shop" may be a more suitable name, providing it's available.
Besides obscenities, your Business name cannot contain specific words. For instance, if you're registering a Sole Trader, your name cannot include the word "Limited" in it.
Businesses may also not include words reserved for Government use. Eg. "Ministry", "National", "Army", "Police", "Caricom", "Bank", "Commonwealth" etc.
You also cannot use names containing "CO-OPERATIVE," "CO-OP," "CREDIT UNION," or "FRIENDLY SOCIETY."