Cooperatives and unions of cooperatives must not register their own names that are identical or confusing to the names of cooperatives and unions of cooperatives [...]
Cooperatives and cooperative unions are not allowed to register their own names that are identical or confusing to the names of other cooperatives and cooperative unions registered in the nationwide Cooperative Registration Database, except for cooperatives and cooperative unions that have been dissolved or have an effective decision of the Court declaring bankruptcy. To choose a name that is not duplicated but still complies with the provisions of the cooperative law, cooperative unions need to pay attention to the following regulations:
Regulations on naming of cooperatives, cooperative unions, branches, representative offices and business locations
According to Article 50 of the Cooperative Law 2023, regulations on naming cooperatives, cooperative unions, branches, representative offices and business locations are as follows:
1. The Vietnamese name of a cooperative or cooperative union includes two elements in the following order:
a) The name of the cooperative begins with the phrase “Cooperative”. For the Cooperative Development Support Fund operating under the cooperative model, the name begins with the phrase "Cooperative Development Support Fund". The name of the cooperative union begins with the phrase "Cooperative Union";
b) Personal names are written with letters in the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, numbers and symbols.
2. The foreign language name of the cooperative or cooperative union is the name translated from the Vietnamese name into one of the foreign languages in the Latin script. When translated into a foreign language, the proper name of the cooperative or cooperative union can be kept unchanged or translated according to the corresponding meaning into the foreign language.
3. Abbreviated names of cooperatives and cooperative unions are abbreviated from Vietnamese names or names in foreign languages.
4. The name of the branch, representative office, and business location must include the name of the cooperative or cooperative union along with the phrase "Branch" for the branch, the phrase "Representative office" for the representative office, and the phrase "Business location" for the business location.
5. The naming of cooperatives and unions of cooperatives must not violate the following regulations:
a) Setting a name that is identical or confusing to the name of a cooperative or cooperative union registered nationwide;
b) Naming a name that infringes the industrial property rights of trade names, trademarks, geographical indications of other organizations or individuals according to the provisions of law on intellectual property;
c) Using the name of a state agency, unit of the people's armed forces, political organization, socio-political organization, socio-political-professional organization, socio-professional organization as all or part of the proper name of the cooperative or cooperative union, unless approved by that agency, unit or organization;
d) Using words and symbols that violate the historical, cultural, ethical traditions and fine customs of the nation.
6. The name of the cooperative, cooperative union, branch, and representative office must be registered at the business registration agency.
Handling cases where names of cooperative groups, cooperatives, cooperative unions, branches, representative offices, business locations of cooperatives, cooperative unions violate industrial property rights
The proper name of the cooperative or cooperative union requesting registration is considered to cause confusion with the proper name of the registered cooperative or cooperative union if it falls into one of the following cases:
– The proper name of the cooperative or union of cooperatives requesting registration is read the same as the proper name of the registered cooperative or union of cooperatives;
– The proper name of the cooperative or union of cooperatives requested for registration is only different from the proper name of the registered cooperative or union of cooperatives by a natural number, an ordinal number or a letter in the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W are written immediately or immediately after the proper name of that cooperative or union of cooperatives;
– The proper name of the cooperative or cooperative union requesting registration is only different from the proper name of the registered cooperative or cooperative union by the symbol “&” or “and”, “.”, “,”, “+”, “-”, “_”;
– The proper name of the cooperative or union of cooperatives requested for registration is only different from the proper name of the registered cooperative or union of cooperatives by the word "new" immediately before or the word "new" written right after or before the proper name of the registered cooperative or union of cooperatives;
– The proper name of the cooperative or cooperative union requesting registration is only different from the proper name of the registered cooperative or cooperative union by the phrase "Northern", "Southern", "Central", "Western", "Eastern".
In addition, Article 18 of Decree No. 92/2024/ND-CP on registration of cooperative groups, cooperatives, and unions of cooperatives also specifically stipulates the handling of cases where the names of cooperative groups, cooperatives, unions of cooperatives, branches, representative offices, and business locations of cooperatives and unions of cooperatives infringe on industrial property rights. The Decree also has provisions to encourage and create favorable conditions for cooperatives and cooperative unions with identical or confusing names to negotiate with each other to register to change their names.
The district-level business registration agency has the right to approve or reject the proposed registered name of the cooperative or cooperative union in accordance with the law and the decision of the district-level business registration agency is final. In case of disagreement with the decision of the district-level business registration agency, cooperatives and unions of cooperatives can sue according to the provisions of law on administrative proceedings./.
Procedures
