CanLaw
How To
Incorporate or Register Your Business
Canada Trusts CanLaw Online since 1996
What is NUANS?
NUANS is the deciding factor in determining whether a company name is in use or not.
Ask An Incorporation Lawyer
Click to Find A NUANS Agent or Service In Your Area Anywhere In Canada
What Is NUANS
NUANS stands for Newly Updated Automated Name Search.
NUANS is an advanced search system that searches corporate and business registries across Canada, with over 8,000,000 records of corporation names, business names and trademarks.
In order for you to register or incorporate your business, a NUANS Report is required by the Federal & most provincial governments.
NUANS Reports are used to determine the availability of a corporate/business name.
Clients search the NUANS database and listing for any similar or possibly confusing existing corporation names, business names and trademarks to make sure that no one else has already registered the corporate or business name, or trademark you plan to use for your business.
NUANS reports are valid for 90 days from their date of submission.
There are different types of NUANS reports, geared towards different jurisdictions (i.e. provinces) or Canada.
NUANS reports for incorporations must be for the relevant jurisdiction (Federal or desired province) and must be a "reservation" type report. NUANS Pre-Searches
To avoid performing repeated NUANS reports (which can be expensive), a "pre-search" of the NUANS database is available.
Click Here
Order A NUANS Report Yourself
The NUANS report is a list of existing corporate and business names, as well as trademarks, that are similar to the one you want to use. The government issued report is fast, accurate and cheap.
Corporate Name Search Reports
You need to make sure that no one else has already registered the corporate or business name, or trademark you would like to use for your business.
To avoid duplication of names and in order for you to register or incorporate your business, a corporate name search report is required by the Federal and the provincial governments.
These reports are used to determine the availability of a corporate/business name by searching the relevant databases or registries listing any similar or possibly confusing existing corporation names, business names and trademarks.
In Canada, there are 2 different kinds of reports: a NUANS biased report; and a provincial name report. The NUANS (Newly Updated Automated Name Search) database provides name search reports for the following jurisdictions: Canada (Federal); Ontario; Alberta; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; and Prince Edward Island.
For all the other provinces (B.C., Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland & Labrador), they each require a name search report from their respective provincial database and registry and NOT from the NUANS database.
The following NUANS reports are available
.Federal Corporate Name report plus trade-mark report
Ontario Corporate Name report plus trade-mark report
Alberta Business Name report plus trade-mark report
British Columbia Corporate Name inquiry report
Prince Edward Island report plus trade-mark report
New Brunswick report plus trade-mark report
Nova Scotia report plus trade-mark report
Federal trade-mark report
Federal trade-mark report plus Federal Corporate Name report
Public Extended trade-mark report
Public Extended trade-mark report (long version)
Trade Name Report
Trade Name report (long version)
NUANS is a registered trade-mark of the government of Canada.
NUANS is a computerized search system that compares a proposed corporate name or trade-mark with databases of existing corporate bodies and trade-marks.
This comparison determines the similarity that exists between the proposed name or mark and existing names in the database, and produces a listing of names that are found to be most similar.
The NUANS approach is to automate the name searching function by having a program with enough "intelligence" to consider all possible criteria for confusion between proposed and existing names. In simple terms, NUANS is a large computer program which provides a complete search, regardless of the name formulation.
There are certain programs which perform the phonetic searching, and others do more direct searching dependent on the length of the words.
There is a NUANS Dictionary which is composed of descriptive words, a synonym table, and other features to allow a user to enter additional name spellings when inputting a name to be searched.
The NUANS goals include:
Quality - Cite all names that conflict with the proposed name in a concise, easily readable report format;
Economy - Minimize the time and effort required by searching staff in performing the name check function and optimize the use of computer resources required in a name search;
Consistency - Produce reports, upon which name granting decisions can be made, that are of equal high quality for all names searched without the dangers of human subjectivity;
Flexibility - Be flexible enough to accommodate the various differences between jurisdictions in legislation concerning the name checking and name granting process. NUANS is currently in use in jurisdictions where name searching is totally privatized, partially privatized or still totally under control of the corporate administrator.
This is not legal advice it is information .