For your information, these are two entirely different things! As silly as it sounds, many people actually thought or believe that these two are actually the same thing where in fact are entirely different. I believe one possible cause of such a confusion is actually how the person is being asked regarding “registration”. Personal experience, there’s this friend of mine who actually works at a private limited company (established for many years) where he was recently appointed as a high rank personnel. Whilst I was congratulating him for his latest appointment, I asked him regarding whether the “company name” is actually protected and registered. Where in fact, I knew at that moment that the name was in fact not protected and registered as I have conducted a search for the name within the database and it came back negative before I actually congratulate him *grin.  The answer I got back from this friend of mine actually made me burst into laughter literally as he told me the name was already registered for few decades! I’m sorry my friend, yes your company name is registered but not under the one I’m actually asking.

So what’s the difference between company registration and company name registration? The first is governs under the Malaysia Companies Act 1965 whereas the latter governs under the Malaysia Trade Marks Act 1986. Can you see the difference now? To start a business, you have to properly register your business under the Companies Commission of Malaysia, commonly known as SSM. A certificate proving the existence of your company would then be issued by the commission and you are now officially a company. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean no one else can use the exact same name to represent their goods and services as it can easily come under an entirely different company. Therefore, getting your company name registered as a valid trademark becomes your priority as you do not want others to misuse your company name.

A very good example would be the Trinity case happened approximately 4 years ago where the word “TRINITY” was a registered trade name owned by Trinity Group Sdn Bhd for property development. The issue arose when Trinity Corporation Berhad (formerly known as Talam Corporation Berhad) uses the word “TRINITY” in its rebranding exercise. The rebranding caused major confusion within the public as Trinity Group did not endorse nor does it acknowledge the use of the word “TRINITY” in Trinity Corporation’s project. The matter was brought up to the KL High Court where the Court at that time ruled in favor of Trinity Group and granted a permanent injunction on Trinity Corporation from the use of the word “TRINITY” in property development.

With the above, I hope you can see the difference and importance of company name registration and protection under the correct laws. See you next time~

If you need to know more about the trademark registration process or questions,
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