The name of a company is its trade name.

A company must use the Japanese characters "株式会社"(pronounced "kabushiki-kaisha", meaning "stock company"),"合名会社"(pronounced" gomei-kaisha" meaning "general partnership company"), "合資会社"(pronounced "goushi-kaisha" meaning "limited partnership company") or " 合同会社" (pronounced "goudou-kaisha", meaning "limited liability company") in its trade name, respectively for stock company, general partnership company, limited partnership company or limited liability company.

A company may not use in its trade name any word which makes it likely that the company may be mistaken for a different form of company.