# 会社法 / Companies Act — 第九百七十八条 (Article 978)

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- Law: 会社法 (Companies Act), 平成十七年法律第八十六号
- English title "Companies Act": 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: 第九百七十八条 (Article 978) — address `art-978`
- Text in force since: 2026-08-12
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978
- 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.

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### 第九百七十八条
<sup>art-978 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978</sup>

**第一項**  次のいずれかに該当する者は、百万円以下の過料に処する。
<sup>art-978/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978/par-1</sup>
A person who falls under any one of the following items is punished by a civil fine of not more than one million yen:
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **一**  第六条第三項の規定に違反して、他の種類の会社であると誤認されるおそれのある文字をその商号中に用いた者
  <sup>art-978/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978/par-1/item-1</sup>
  a company that uses in its trade name any word which makes it likely that the company may be mistaken for a different form of company in violation of the provisions of Article 6, paragraph (3);
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **二**  第七条の規定に違反して、会社であると誤認されるおそれのある文字をその名称又は商号中に使用した者
  <sup>art-978/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978/par-1/item-2</sup>
  a person who uses in that person's own name or trade name any word which makes it likely that the person may be mistaken for a company in violation of the provisions of Article 7; or
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **三**  第八条第一項の規定に違反して、他の会社（外国会社を含む。）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た者
  <sup>art-978/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-978/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-978/par-1/item-3</sup>
  a person who uses any name or trade name which makes it likely that the person may be mistaken for another company (including a foreign company).
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Cites
- art-978/par-1/item-1: 第六条第三項 → 会社法 第六条第三項 (Article 6, paragraph (3)), art-6/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-6/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-6/par-3
- art-978/par-1/item-2: 第七条 → 会社法 第七条 (Article 7), art-7 — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-7
- art-978/par-1/item-3: 第八条第一項 → 会社法 第八条第一項 (Article 8, paragraph (1)), art-8/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-8/par-1

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## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 会社法 — the text in force from 2026-08-12 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/417AC0000000086/20260812_508AC0000000064), retrieved 2026-09-17
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Companies Act — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4481/tb), retrieved 2026-09-17
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Companies Act — Ministry of Justice translation (part 2 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4482/tb), retrieved 2026-09-17
- This site's parser, version 223 — 会社法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-17