A Nuans name search is a paper document produced from the Canadian Nuans name search system which checks a proposed company or business name against all other registered company and business names across Canada including trade-marks.
The Nuans name search system maintains a database of all of the names registered in Canada including trade-marks, sole proprietorships, business names, partnerships, non-share and regular share companies. The system is mandated to keep track of all names registered provincially and territorial in Canada.
The Nuans name search report will show all names similar to your proposed name in order of importance. The first being the closest conflict to the name you wish to use. You can then decide whether your name is different enough from all other names before you register your name.
If you are incorporating a company in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, in the Yukon territory and in the federal jurisdiction of Canada, you will be required to provide a Nuans name search report.
Name search reports are required by all provinces and territories including the federal jurisdiction, when incorporating companies in Canada. However the Nuans is only accepted in six jurisdictions. It is still advisable to do a preliminary name search through the Nuans system because it keeps a listing of all names registered throughout Canada.
In Canada certain jurisdictions only will review a Nuans prior to registering a company and they are shown below:
Federal
Ontario
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Federal
Yukon
The governments which do not accept reports from the Nuans name search system provide a list of any names that have been registered in their province or territory to the Nuans name search system and these names are added to the Nuans system database.
You cannot incorporate a company with a name that is exactly the same as another name already registered. When you go to incorporate a company in Canada the government must first know if that name has been taken.
The Nuans name search report is also your way of determining whether there are additional conflicts to your name. The onus will be on you to look over the entire report and make sure you are not proposing to use a name that is even close to another corporate name or trade-mark since the owner of the name could still have a claim against you if your name is too similar and his or her company name has had a large presence in the marketplace for many years.
Each jurisdiction that accepts the Nuans Name search report will have its own Nuans report. For instance, if you are incorporating an Ontario company you will be required to obtain an Ontario Nuans Name Search report. If you are incorporating a federal company you will be required to obtain a federal Nuans name search report. Despite the fact that each of these reports is different, all reports will search the Nuans database system for similar names across Canada.
There is no protection for business names in Alberta and Ontario so you can register a name exactly the same as any other business name that has been registered without obtaining a Nuans name search report.
A preliminary name search would be advisable in cases where a full Nuans is not required to guard against registering a name exactly the same. This is because it is a very bad idea to register a name exactly the same as another name already registered.
A preliminary name search can be performed by a registered search house. Preliminary name search results can be provided by email. An average person would not be able to pick up all the conflicts when performing a preliminary name search since nuans search houses are trained for this purpose.
Attend at Resources for Canadian Business Owners for a Free Incorporation Checklist and information about Sole Proprietorships.
