The Name Clause

The Name Clause is the opening clause of every Memorandum of Association, and it states the name by which the company is to be known. Section 4(1)(a) requires that the name of a public company end with the word "Limited," and the name of a private company end with the words "Private Limited" — the one significant exception being a company licensed under Section 8 (a company formed for charitable or similar not-for-profit objects), which is permitted to omit "Limited"/"Private Limited" from its name altogether, since such a company does not distribute profit to its members in the ordinary commercial sense.

A proposed name is not accepted merely because the promoters like it. Under Section 4(2) and 4(3), the name must not be identical with, or too closely resembling, the name of an existing company or a registered Limited Liability Partnership, and it must not be considered undesirable by the Central Government — a standard that, among other things, rules out names that would mislead the public about the nature or scale of the company's business, or that use words suggesting a connection with the government without proper authorisation. The name is also barred from containing certain protected words, names, and emblems restricted under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, such as national symbols or names implying a link to the United Nations or specified international bodies, without prior government approval. Before incorporation, the promoters must apply for reservation of the proposed name (through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' name-reservation service, now integrated into the SPICe+ incorporation form), and once reserved, the name is available for use for the limited period the rules allow, within which the incorporation application itself must be filed. …