The State Council recently issued the Administrative Provisions on the Registration of Enterprise Names (Revised in 2020) (the "Provisions"), with effect from March 1, 2021.

The Provisions mainly touch upon the contents in four aspects. The first is establishing a self-declaration system for enterprise names and clarifying specific requirements. An applicant shall undertake to bear legal liability in accordance with the law for its infringement upon the legitimate rights and interests of others due to the similarity between its enterprise name and the names of other enterprises. The second is perfecting the basic specifications for enterprise names. The prohibitive requirements on enterprise names are refined, and the registration rules for names of foreign-invested enterprises, enterprise branches, and enterprise groups are clarified. The third is establishing a mechanism for settling disputes over enterprise names. Where an enterprise deems that other enterprise names infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprise name, it may file a lawsuit with the people's court or request the enterprise registration authority that has handled the registration for the enterprises suspected of infringement to deal with the matter. The fourth is strengthening the in-process and ex-post regulation. When handling the enterprise registration, where an enterprise registration authority discovers that the name of an enterprise fails to meet the provisions, it shall refuse the registration for the enterprise and explain the reasons therefor in writing; where it discovers that the registered enterprise name fails to meet the provisions, it shall make corrections in a timely manner.

(Source: www.gov.cn)