# 商法 / Commercial Code — 第十二条 (Article 12) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 商法 (Commercial Code), 明治三十二年法律第四十八号 - English title "Commercial Code": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第十二条 (Article 12)（他の商人と誤認させる名称等の使用の禁止） — address `art-12` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第十二条（他の商人と誤認させる名称等の使用の禁止） — (Prohibition on Use of Names Causing Misconception That Merchant Is Another Merchant) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-12 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12 **第一項** 何人も、不正の目的をもって、他の商人であると誤認されるおそれのある名称又は商号を使用してはならない。 art-12/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12/par-1 It is prohibited for any person to use, with a wrongful purpose, a name or trade name that could give rise to the misconception that the person is another merchant. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の規定に違反する名称又は商号の使用によって営業上の利益を侵害され、又は侵害されるおそれがある商人は、その営業上の利益を侵害する者又は侵害するおそれがある者に対し、その侵害の停止又は予防を請求することができる。 art-12/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12/par-2 A merchant whose business interests have been or are likely to be infringed upon by the use of a name or trade name that violates the provisions of the preceding paragraph may demand that the person infringing or likely to infringe upon those business interests discontinue or refrain from the infringement. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-12/par-2: 前項 → 商法 第十二条第一項 (Article 12, paragraph (1)), art-12/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12/par-1 ## Cited by 4 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 商法 第十二条第二項（他の商人と誤認させる名称等の使用の禁止） — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-12/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-12/par-2 - 商法 第十三条第一項（過料） — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-13/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-13/par-1 - 商法 附則第十項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/suppl-3241-137/par-10 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/suppl-3241-137/par-10 - 金融商品取引法 附則第十項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/suppl-3241-137/par-10 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000025/suppl-3241-137/par-10 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 商法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/132AC0000000048/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-11-05 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Commercial Code — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4293/tb), retrieved 2026-11-05 - This site's parser, version 224 — 商法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-05