Name of a company: definition (2023)

At the stage ofcreation of your company, you will be required to assign it a company name. It also sometimes happens in the life of a company that it mustchange company name. Indeed, in France, for entrepreneurs and company managers who wish to change their company name, it is necessary to respect the procedure through themodification of the statutesof the company. Therebusiness name of a self-employed entrepreneuror a businessis the name given to a civil company like the corporate name of commercial companies.

The name of a company: what is it?

Thesocial reasonis the name by which thecivil societyis legally identified as a legal person (much like a person's last name). Forcreate your business, it is essential to assign it a company name.

We no longer use the term "corporate name" for acommercial societyand theSCP. L'expression «social reasonis used to identify civil companies (SCI, SCCV, etc.).

As mentioned above, the company name must appear on administrative letters, invoices, quotes,Kbis of an association, as well as in the articles of incorporation of the company.

Apart from this subtlety, the denomination and the corporate name refer to the same idea: the identification of the company. It's theofficial nameof the society.

💡Good to know :The corporate name refers only to corporations. Micro-entrepreneurs are not concerned. The name of the micro-enterprise is generally the name of the micro-entrepreneur himself.

What is the difference between company name and legal form?

Be careful not to confuse the "corporate name", which is the name given to a company, and thelegal form of a companywhich corresponds to its type of structure: SAS, SA, SARL, EURL etc....

In some cases, the company name is made up of the name of the company, followed by its type. This is the case with Captain Contract for example: our company name is “Wasbross SAS”.

✏️ Please note:For non-trading companies with partners with unlimited liability for the company's debts (with the exception of professional non-trading companies - SCP), the company name mentions at least one of the names of the partners and is sometimes supplemented by formulas such as "& partners", " & son”, etc.

Commercial name, brand name and company name: what are the differences?

Thenom commercialand the sign may be different from the company name and should therefore not be confused!

The brand name is the name given to an establishment, most often to a shop.

As for the trade name, this is the name by which the company is known to the public. For example, you probably know the Blablacar platform, the commercial name of the company whose corporate name is "Comuto".

The commercial name and the brand name can be freely determined provided that they do not create confusion with an already existing brand.

✏️ NoteThis ability of companies to have several names can cause some problems in terms of invoicing. When you invoice or sign a contract with a company, it is recommended to verify the company name or company name by means of the SIREN number. Indeed, only the company name is used in the administrative and legal framework (legal proceedings, balance sheets, letters, invoices, quotes, pay slips, etc.).

How to choose your company name?

As with the choice of a brand name, the choice of a company name must follow several steps:

• Check the availability of the company nameby carrying out an anteriority search
• Check the legality of the name, its compliance with the law: not to be contrary to morality, for example.
• Choose an attractive and impactful name

As a general rule, the company name consists of the name of the partner(s).

Thissocial reasonmust be the subject of a trademark registration in order to protect it and avoid any act of unfair competition.

How to change the name in the statutes?

Do you want to change your company name? The initial choice no longer corresponds to the image of your company? This corporate name being present in thelegal statutes, it will be necessary to modify these statutes.

How to modify the company name in the articles of association?

To be valid, thechange of company name in the articles of associationmust scrupulously respect the procedure for modifying these (also specified by the said statutes). This implies the convening of an extraordinary general meeting (AGE). This convocation and modification of the company name of the statutes involve delays and costs.

The change of corporate name gives rise to the establishment of an EGM report indicating in particular the results of the vote and the new corporate name of the company.

Check the validity of the new company name beforehand

Check the validity of the new company name beforehand.

To be valid, the new corporate name must:

• be available ;
• lawful, i.e. not contrary to morality and public order;

Regarding availability, the new company name must not create confusion with an already existing brand. Similarly, the corporate name must not already be used by another company. If the company decides to opt for a new corporate name, it must check that the patronymic name does not risk creating confusion with a well-known trademark.

Finally, in the case where the company carries out a regulated activity (for example for an analysis laboratory), it is absolutely necessary to check that thename changecan take place and know which bodies or authorities to notify, according to which procedure and within which timeframe in order to maintain the approval or authorization to practice.

Official advertisement of the company name

Thechange of company nameof a company must be legally announced via a newspaper of legal announcements by indicating therethe old and the new corporate name. Note that this publication of a change of company name can now be done online.

File for modification of change of company name at the Registry

A complete filemodification change of company namemust be sent to the Registry of the Commercial Court where the company is registered in order to modify the RCS

The legal representative of the company has, from the date of issue of the act of the new corporate name of the company, a period of one month to submit this file.

This file consists of:

• a Cerfa M2 form (to be downloaded online or from the registry of the Commercial Court on which the company depends), to be completed and of course to be signed indicating the change of company name;
• certified true copies of the deed of change of corporate name of the company (minutes of EGM for change of corporate name) and of the document mentioning the updated statutes of the company (documents dated and certified true by the legal representative )
• the certificate of publication of the notice of change of company name in a newspaper of legal announcements (possible online)
• payment by check payable to the registry of the Commercial Court on which the company depends (costs of filing documents, emoluments of the registry, VAT, INPI and BODACC fees, i.e. 205.5 euros but the amount may vary depending on the department)
• a power conferred by the legal representative of the company IF the signatory of the modification formality is not the legal representative himself
• in the event of a regulated activity, proof of change of company name, issued by the official body responsible for the activity

✏️ Notethat the automatic insertion in the Bodacc (Official bulletin of civil and commercial announcements) by the registry of the Commercial Court makes the modification of thedenomination social opposable to third parties, which means that from that moment, thechange of company nameof a company is something that third parties cannot ignore and must respect as a legal fact.

📩 Attention :If the company has several establishments registered in the Trade and Companies Register and these do not depend geographically on the same registry of the Commercial Court, the costs will be multiple.

How much does a name change cost?

The full cost of achange of company name, not including any costs related to the organization of a general meeting, consists of:

• legal publication costs (about 150 euros)
• court fees (205.5 euros)
• possible legal fees (between 500 and 1000 euros) if you decide to go through a professional

Thechoice of company nameand its protection is a process that can be tedious. Do not hesitate to delegate all the formalities and the constitution of your file. To do this, we offer you a simple solution, entirely online and at a controlled cost!

Also find our guides on:

• Registration of an SCI
• Deadline for registering a company
• Registration of a company
• Draft statute of a SASU
• TheSCM
• Theregister of beneficial owners
• Theregister of beneficial owners in a SASU
• Thecapital socialfrom a company
• Theshare capital of an SCI