Unclear laws make business naming a troublesome job

According to the Business Registration Management Agency, a lot of names registered by businessmen are controversial. A businessman wanted to name his company “Le Quy Don” after the 18th-century Vietnamese philosopher, poet, encyclopedist. However, the registration was rejected.

When the businessman contacted the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, he was told that to date, there has been no ground to say Le Quy Don is a celebrity.

In another case, the businessman registered the name “Chin Tang May” (9 layers of cloud, or to be over the moon in figurative sense). However, the proposal was not accepted, because “Chin Tang May” is the name of a porn website.

Two lawyers Hung and Vuong wanted to set up a law partnership, named Hung Vuong, which comprises the names of the two partners. However, they could not do that, because “Hung Vuong” coincides with the name of the Hung Kings who had the merit of founding the country.

Another lawyer wanted to set up a law office named “Troi Dat” (Heaven and Earth). However, the state management agency did not accept the name, saying that the name is not suitable to the Vietnamese traditional habits and customs.

According to the Deputy Head of the Business Registration Management Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the lack of the detailed regulations has led to arguments and misunderstanding.

In Hanoi, a businessman planned to set up the Sung Suong Service Company Ltd. The city’s business registration agency then could not decide whether to give the business registration certificate to the company, because it did not know if the name is too “delicate” (in Vietnamese, “sung suong” officially means “happy”, but sometimes it bears sensitive meaning as a slang word)

There was another rejected name – “An Mon Company”. It was understandable why the owner of the company wanted the name. “An Mon” means the corrosion, which was suitable to a chemical company. However, the state management agency felt embarrassed in this case, because it did not know if the word has other bad meanings.

Not only Vietnamese, but foreign businesses have also complained that they meet big difficulties in naming their businesses.

Vision Company Ltd from Brunei, wanted to set up a 100 percent foreign invested company in HCM City named “Ying Lin”. However, the state competent agency decided that the name did not have meaning. After a lot of arguments with the agency, the investor had to accept the Vietnamese name “Dĩng Linh,” but it did not understand what “Dĩng Linh” means.

Lawyer Ha Hai from the HCM City Bar Association, noted that the Vietnamese laws don’t have strict regulations on the naming of enterprises, which has caused a lot of troubles to businesses and management agency.

Tuan admitted that the arguments between businessmen and management agency would be endless because both sides have their own reasons.

“In principle, we must not accept the names which violate the Vietnamese cultural habits and customs. But there is no legal document showing what names are considered as “violating Vietnamese habits and customs.”

em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chi Mai