Arabic
Issued by Royal Decree D/83 Approving the Commercial Register Law and the Trade Names Law
Chapter One
General Provisions
Article 1
Definitions
The following words and phrases—wherever they appear in this law—shall have the meanings assigned to each of them:
Law: The Law of Trade Names.
Regulation: The executive regulation of the law.
Ministry: The Ministry of Commerce.
Minister: The Minister of Commerce.
Trade name: The name used by a merchant in practising his commercial activities to distinguish him from other merchants.
Merchant: A natural or legal person who meets the description of a merchant in accordance with the Commercial Law.
Commercial Register: A register containing merchant data through a central electronic database.
Registrar: The government agency specified by the minister to manage the Commercial Register.
Article 2
Objectives
The law aims to enhance confidence in the commercial environment by regulating the procedures for reserving trade names and registering them in the Commercial Register, enhancing their value, and ensuring their protection and the protection of the rights related to them.
Chapter Two
Trade Name, Reservation, and Registration Provisions
Article 3
Obligation to Adopt and Register the Trade Name
1. Every merchant shall adopt a trade name and register it in the Commercial Register.
2. It is permitted for the trade name to be reserved for a temporary period with the registrar without registering it in the Commercial Register. The regulation must specify the duration of the reservation and its controls.
Article 4
Trade Name
Composition
1. The trade name must be adopted from the personal name of the merchant, a distinctive name, or both. It must consist of one or more Arabic or Arabized words or Arabic letters or numbers.
2. It is permitted for the trade name to consist of one or more words, letters, or numbers in a language other than Arabic.
3. The regulation must specify the provisions specific to this article, including the non-Arabic language of the trade name, the method of displaying the trade name in the Commercial Register, and the provisions for reserving and registering the name “Saudi Arabia”; the names of cities, regions and public places; and family names as trade names.
Article 5
Application to Reserve or Register a Trade Name
1. An application for reserving or registering a trade name must be submitted to the registrar, including the data specified in the regulation.
2. The registrar shall decide on the application that meets the required data within ten days from the date of its submission. The registrar may, in cases specified by the regulation, extend this period.
3. The registrar shall publish the trade name that has been accepted for reservation or registration in the manner specified by the regulation, and the reservation or registration applicant shall bear the financial cost of the publication, if any.
4. If there is more than one application to reserve or register a trade name, priority is given to the earlier to submit the application.
5. In the event that the application is rejected, the decision must be reasoned, and the reservation or registration applicant must be notified of this as specified in the regulation, and he has the right to file a grievance to the ministry within sixty days from the date of his notification of the rejection.
Article 6
Trade Name
Protection
1. It is prohibited for any other person to use the trade name reserved or registered for the merchant in accordance with the provisions of the law, taking into account other relevant laws.
2. The merchant, whose trade name is registered in the Commercial Register, has the right to demand compensation from the person who used his trade name for the damage that resulted from the use, before the competent court.
Article 7
Prohibited
Names
1. It is prohibited to reserve or register a trade name that violates public order or public morals, leads to deception, or whose use is prohibited based on relevant legal provisions, including if the name is:
(a) It resembles a trade name reserved or registered in the Commercial Register, regardless of the type of activity. The regulation must specify the criteria for similarity of trade names and the points of distinction between them.
(b) It is similar to a globally famous trade name or trademark, or is similar to a registered or famous trademark in the Kingdom, unless the trademark is owned by the applicant.
(c) It contains a political, military, or religious meaning, connotation, or content.
(d) It resembles a name, badge of honor, or symbol of any organization—local, regional, or international—or one of its institutions.
2. The ministry shall prepare a list of the most prominent names that are prohibited from being reserved or registered as trade names in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, which must be updated periodically.
Article 8
Display of the Trade Name
The merchant shall display his trade name on the front of the place where he practices his commercial business, according to its nature, and shall include it in all his documents, correspondence and printed materials.
Article 9
Trade Name
Amendments
A merchant registered in the Commercial Register may amend his trade name after fulfilling the conditions and procedures stipulated in the law and regulation. The amendment is effective from the date of his registration in the Commercial Register, without prejudice to the rights and obligations that arose before its amendment.
Article 10
Trade Name Disposition
1. The merchant may dispose of the registered trade name independently of the store, and the regulation must specify the provisions for this.
2. The disposition of the trade name is not executed until it is registered and published in the Commercial Register.
Article 11
Effect of Transferring Ownership of the Trade Name with the Store
The rights and obligations previously established under this name are transferred to the person to whom the trade name and store are transferred, unless otherwise agreed. However, the predecessor and successor remain jointly liable to the creditors, and no agreement to the contrary shall apply in regard to their rights except after their consent. A lawsuit for the liability of the successor for the obligations of the predecessor is not to be heard after five years from the date of the transfer of ownership.
Chapter Three
Cancellation and Striking Off and Their Cases
Article 12
Cancellation of Trade Name Reservation
The registrar shall cancel—on its own accord or upon the request of an interested party—the reservation of the trade name in any of the following two cases:
- If it violates public order or public morals, leads to deception, or is prohibited from being used based on the relevant legal provisions.
- Expiry of the reservation period without extension.
The registrar shall notify the person whose trade name reservation has been cancelled as specified in the regulation.
Article 13
Striking Off the Trade Name Registration
1. The registrar shall strike off—on its own accord or upon the request of an interested party—the registration of the trade name, in any of the following cases:
(a) If it violates public order or public morals, leads to deception, or is prohibited from being used based on the relevant legal provisions.
(b) If a final decision or judgment is issued to strike it off.
(c) If the registration in the Commercial Register is struck off.
The registrar shall notify the person whose trade name registration has been struck off as specified in the regulation.
2. Whoever has his trade name struck off in accordance with paragraphs 1(a) and (b) of this article shall register a trade name in place of the struck-off trade name as specified in the regulation.
3. The registrar shall reserve the trade name of the merchant whose registration in the Commercial Register has been struck off in accordance with paragraph 1(c) of this article, as specified in the regulation.
Chapter Four
Violations
Article 14
Statement of Violations
1. Without prejudice to any penalty stipulated in another law, a fine not exceeding fifty thousand Riyals must be imposed against anyone who:
(a) Uses a reserved or restricted trade name in violation of the provisions of the law.
(b) Does not comply with the provisions of article 3(1), article 6(1), article 8, or article 13(2) of the law.
2. It is permitted to double the fine in the event of repetition. Repetition takes place by committing the same violation proven by a final decision within three years from the date of issuance of the decision.
3. The amount of the fine must be determined based on the seriousness of the violation, its circumstances, context, effects, and the size of the facility.
The regulation must specify the classification schedule of violations.
Article 15
Policing Violations
1. Any violations of the provisions of the law must be policed by employees appointed by a decision issued by the minister, and they must have enforcement capacity.
2. The minister shall issue rules regulating the work and duties of the employees referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
3. The minister shall issue the rules for granting financial rewards to employees who uncover violations stipulated in the law, in agreement with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
Article 16
The Committee for the Consideration of Violations
A committee or more must be formed by a decision of the minister, consisting of no less than three members, headed by a person with legal qualifications, and it is responsible for examining violations and imposing the penalty stipulated in article 14 of the law. The minister has the right to determine the violations for which direct penalties may be imposed without referring them to the committee. The rules of operation of the committee must be issued, and the remuneration of its chairman, members, and secretariat must be determined by a decision by the minister.
Article 17
Alternative Procedures
If it is proven that the merchant has committed any of the violations mentioned in article 14 of the law, the committee has the right to take—in addition to the prescribed penalty or instead of it—any of the following:
1. Warning the merchant.
2. Requiring the merchant to take the necessary steps to avoid the occurrence of the violation in the future.
3. Requiring the merchant to take the necessary corrective steps to address the effects of the violation.
Article 18
Filing Grievances Against Decisions
A person against whom a decision is issued based on the provisions of the law has the right to file a grievance against it before the competent court within thirty days from the date of notification, as specified in the regulation.
Chapter Five
Final Provisions
Article 19
Assignment of Tasks
The minister may seek assistance from public or private entities to carry out the tasks assigned to the registrar, and he may assign some of them to those entities.
Article 20
Arabic Language Experts Platform
The ministry shall encourage the use of the Arabic language to enhance the Arabic trade names database through a platform for Arabic language experts, in which the details of the experts are recorded, and their work is displayed to the public in accordance with the controls and procedures specified by the regulation.
Article 21
Fees
The regulation must determine the fees for the services provided by the registrar in the implementation of the provisions of the law.
Article 22
Issuance of the Regulation
The minister shall issue the regulation within one hundred and eighty days from the date of publication of the law in the Official Gazette, and it becomes effective from the date of its entry into force.
Article 23
Entry into Force of the Law
The law hereby replaces the Trade Names Law, issued by Royal Decree D/15 dated 12 Sha’ban 1420 [21 November 1999], and becomes effective after one hundred and eighty days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
Published in Umm Al-Qura 5050 issued on 4 October 2024.
