Finding The Perfect Company Name While Setting Up A GmbH In Germany

While forming a GmbH in Germany it is of great importance to give it a cleverly picked name which can give the necessary recognition and value to the company and set it apart from the competition. But, it is also the fact that not every name can be given to a GmbH company in Germany.

The company name is the name under which the company will be publicly known to the world. Thus, a well-crafted name will give a first good impression about the company to the potential customers as well as stakeholders. The company name must be in line with the statutory provisions of the German Civil code, German Commercial Code and German Limited Liability Companies Act.

Here are some of the important Legal regulations associated with the company’s name:

Mandatory Appendix

The legal form of the company needs to be clearly stated in the name of the company. Thus, if you are setting up a GmbH in Germany, adding ‘GmbH’ or ‘Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung’ is mandatory. Another option is to integrate the legal form of the company in the name of the company itself. It is totally at the option of the founders setting up the company.

Identification

The name of the company should be in a position to clearly identify the company and have a distinct character. Giving generic names or generic industry names to the company is not considered enough to identify the company and distinguishing it from the rest. For instance, giving your company name as payroll Germany, serves no purpose as no one will be able to distinguish it from the other companies dealing in the same industry. Also, homophones are not considered admissible as company’s name.

Misleading Information

The company’s name should not be the carrier of any sort of misleading information. This means the chosen company’s name should not provide any sort of misleading information or an inaccurate impression about the company. One must thus abstain from using certain words or group of words which are considered misleading. Any connotation in terms of using foreign names, production location, size of the factory or industry or holding, quality, activities etc. should be given a miss!

Abbreviations

Use of letter sequences at the time of naming a GmbH should be avoided. Also the use of name series is not considered appropriate at the time of naming a GmbH company. For instance naming a company as ABC GmbH or AB256 GmbH is not acceptable in the legal provisions of naming a GmbH in Germany. Since, the special characters cannot be communicated, thus, use of special character in the name of a GmbH is also prohibited.

Closing Thoughts

Choosing a short, crisp and catchy name which is easy to remember is a must at the time of choosing name for your GmbH company. It is also important to check the availability of the name in advance to avoid the difficulties at a later stage. It is imperative to use an original name for the company in order to stand out of the competition. Always keep in mind that any sort of unlawful use of the name of the company may lead to company abuse procedure.