Not surprisingly, the same thing happens to a businesses. Years spent building your company's reputation, relationships with vendors, and goodwill can evaporate in a flash.

A simple way to help protect yourself from this is to periodically order a  NUANS® report for your company's name - if a name appears on the report that you consider confusingly similar consult with your lawyer - remember, it's up to you to protect your good name.

A NUANS® report helps you ensure that the business name you want to use is distinctive and unlikely to be confused with an existing business name or registered trademark. Similarly, if you are already in business you want to ensure that no one else is using a business name that is either identical to or confusingly similar to your.

Registering and Internet domain name? Obtaining a NUANS® report is a good way to ensure that you're not inadvertently using some other company's trade name or registered trademark.

The federal government and most Provinces use NUANS® reports to determine the availability of a proposed name for a newly formed or amended corporations.

If you are forming an unincorporated business (sole-proprietorship or partnership) it's a good idea ( but not mandatory ) to obtain a report prior to registering a business name to reduce the likelihood of inadvertently infringing on an existing company's name or registered trademark.

Ordering NUANS® Reports

Charges for NUANS® reports are not refundable. Reports are delivered as a PDF file via e-mail, we no longer mail printed reports as all jurisdictions using NUANS® have agreed to accept reports produced on plain paper as of August 2003.

A properly formulated name should include a distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal element. For example:

Acme (distinctive) Widgets (descriptive) Inc. (legal).

A legal element is not required when ordering your NUANS® report but is mandatory when you apply to incorporate.

We offer 2 levels of service:

Enhanced service: we pre-screen the proposed name before requesting the full report and then review the report for potential conflicts.

Basic service, we pre-screen the proposed name but we do not review the report for conflicts, this level of service is intended for those already familiar with interpreting NUANS® reports, if you are not familiar with interpreting NUANS® reports we recommend that you use the enhanced level of service which includes a review of the report.

Refunds: Fees for NUANS® reports are not refundable except when you have used the enhanced service and there is a pre-screening match and you choose not to propose an alternative name, in this instance a refund of the amount paid less $5.00 (equal to our pre-screening only fee) will be issued.

If you're not quite ready to order a full report we also offer pre-screening of proposed names (near bottom of page) for only $5.00

Enhanced Service:

Available at our office or on-line. Each name searched is $39.95 plus GST/HST.

In addition to the fast service offered with the basic service (below) we will pre-screen the proposed name* also evaluate the NUANS® report prior to delivery to you you to identify potential conflicts. Please note that a positive evaluation does not guarantee that the proposed name will be available nor is it a legal opinion. Please note, trademark reports are not available via on-line ordering, please contact us for more information.

To order your name search please enter the proposed name in the space below, select the purpose (Federal Incorporation, Ontario Incorporation etc.) and click the "Buy Now" button.

The report will be delivered to you as a PDF file linked to an e-mail message. Please note that due to staff holidays your report will will be sent out not later than 10:00AM the following business day.

You may order more than one report at a time. To order additional reports please enter the correct quantity and the enter the proposed names in the "additional Names" are when processing your payment.

Proposed Name
Purpose of Report	Please choose from belowFederal IncorporationOntario IncorporationPEI IncorporationNB IncorporationNS IncorporationBC Incorporation General Name Inquiry

Basic:

Available on-line only - Only $29.95   plus GST per name searched/HST.

New: pre-screening of the proposed name is now included in the price of the basic service!

To order your name search please enter the proposed name in the space below, select the purpose (Federal Incorporation, Ontario Incorporation etc.) and click the "Buy Now" button.

The report will be delivered to you as a PDF file linked to an e-mail message. Please note that due to staff holidays your report will will be sent out not later than 10:00AM the following business day.

You may order more than one report at a time. To order additional reports please enter the correct quantity and the enter the proposed names in the "additional Names" are when processing your payment.

Proposed Name
Purpose of Report	Please choose from belowOntario IncorporationFederal IncorporationNB IncorporationNS IncorporationPEI IncorporationBC Incorporation (info only-no reservation)General Name Inquiry

Please note, we do not review or interpret the report and no opinion as to the suitability of the name is included with the basic level of service. This service level is intended for those already familiar with interpreting NUANS® reports, if you are not familiar with interpreting NUANS® reports we recommend that you use the enhanced level of service which includes a review of the report.

Pre-screening/Preliminary Reports

Not sure about a proposed name?

Preliminary or pre-screening only identifies exact matches but can eliminate the need for costly additional name searches. A full NUANS® report will still be needed if you're incorporating in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Federally. NUANS® preliminary searches are only $5.00 including GST

* The pre-screening function of the NUANS®  only identifies exact matches, it does not reveal phonetically similar names. While pre-screening reduces the probability of needing additional name searches it does not guarantee the availability of a proposed name.

NUANS® is a registered trademark of Industry Canada.