QuestionsQuestions (DTI DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 7, S. 95)
DAO No. 7, s. 1995 is issued pursuant to Title X, Book IV of the Administrative Code of 1987 and to implement Act No. 3883, as amended (the Business Names Law).
It includes use on (1) written/printed receipts (including receipts for business taxes, duties and fees and withdrawal of delivery receipts); (2) written/printed evidence of agreements or business transactions; and (3) any sign or billboard conspicuously exhibited in plain view in or at the place of business (or elsewhere) announcing the business.
Any variation, modification, addition, subtraction, abbreviation, or change in any words composing the true name of a person, corporation, partnership, cooperative, association, or organization accorded juridical personality constitutes another name.
Any natural person at least 18 years old, or any juridical person not disqualified by existing law/regulation to engage in business, who is using a firm/business name/style as defined in Section 1.
The application must be filed with the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP) or the provincial offices of the DTI, using a form prescribed by the Director of the Bureau.
If the juridical person is already registered and is using only such registered names, it may no longer register under the Business Names Law.
Certain VAS applications will not be transmitted to BTRCP for national verification. Upon receipt, regional/provincial offices process and issue business name certificates, provided they comply with processing guidelines and specified conditions.
It shall contain only the full name of the applicant or initials of his first name and middle name plus the complete surname and suffixes enumerated under B.1.3.
The applicant must agree to change the business name if a nationally verified business name registrant with prior registration requests a change because the names are identical, similar, or confusingly similar to the applicant’s exempt registered business name.
Prior registration includes the nationally verified BNR registered within the six (6) months period after the registration of the VAS-exempt BNR.
After a period of six (6) months from the date of registration, the VAS exempt BNR is included in the National Databank and is considered nationally registered.
Examples include dry goods, dried fish, sari-sari store, carinderia, canteen, kitchenette, eatery, fast food, beauty parlor, bakery, vulcanizing shop, welding/repair shop, mini enterprise, mini trading, and mini grocery, plus other similar suffixes determined by the BTRCP.
The permanent registration number differentiates establishments that may have identical or similar names. It must be placed in the business signboard and official receipts, and it is the original Business Name certificate number retained during renewal.
BNR applications that do not use (1) the applicant’s complete name with the required suffixes, or (2) first and middle name initials with the complete surname and required suffixes; and BN applications not covered by VAS exemption.
If the BNR uses the applicant’s full name or first and middle name initials with the complete surname, with the required suffixes under B.1.3, the applicant may optionally apply for national verification.
When the firm name/business name/style has expired and was not renewed within six (6) months from its expiration, it is cancelled from the record upon publication of notice in a newspaper of general circulation.
Any violation of the undertaking submitted by the BN VAS-exempt applicant, and any violation of the preceding rules and regulations, are grounds for cancellation of the BNR.