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Laos company name and activity check
Compare the legal name structure, the company register, trademark records and activity codes before you file a name reservation. The result prepares the filing. It does not reserve the name.
For investors and advisers forming a limited company, sole limited company, partnership or individual enterprise in the Lao PDR.
- Enterprise Law 2022 The legal form belongs in the name
- LSIC activity codes Activities are declared by code
- Free for members Rules and the sample stay public
Submit a check
Sign in to generate a result. A free account can generate 3 times each day, counted on the Lao calendar. A draft stays in this browser.
Check result
The result appears here after you sign in and submit. It prepares a filing and does not reserve the name.
Preparing the draft
Filing sequence
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01
State the proposed activity
The wording is matched to LSIC codes. The 2022 certificate does not carry a free-text business-scope paragraph.
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02
Select the enterprise form
A company or partnership name includes its form. An individual enterprise is filed at the district office and may share a name.
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03
Review the comparison, then file
Identical names, similar names and trademarks are shown here. The reservation is filed with Industry and Commerce.
Registration rules
Prepared from published Lao law and registration practice.
A pre-filing check, not a reservation
The check uses the LaoBiz company register, trademark records and published rules. A name is reserved only when Industry and Commerce accepts the reservation form. The register can lag the live national file.
How a legal name is built
Enterprise Law of 29 December 2022, Article 27: the name may use an investor’s name or another agreed name. Except for state-owned and mixed enterprises, the name includes the enterprise form. The first person to reserve a name has priority. The reservation lapses if the enterprise is not registered. Legal entities file at central or provincial level. Individual enterprises file at the district office.
Four kinds of names are prohibited
Article 28 prohibits a name that duplicates another enterprise, except an individual enterprise; a name contrary to fine national culture and public order; a name identical to a country or an international organization; and a name that is the same as or similar to the enterprise form itself.
Similar names and trademarks still matter
MOIC Provision No. 0924 of 4 June 2008 also bars another enterprise’s registered trademark, and the names of leaders, kings, national heroes, historical events and festivals. It asked names not to be ambiguous or close to a nationally known enterprise. Its older idea that the same distinctive name could be reused in another province conflicts with the 2022 law, so an exact match is treated under the 2022 rule. Similarity and trademarks stay as practical filing risks.
Business scope is an activity code
The enterprise registration certificate states the name, enterprise code and TIN, form, address, registered capital, manager and owners. Activities are declared with LSIC codes, and one registration may include several. LaoBiz lists the official Lao and English wording with Chinese.
Registration is not the operating licence
For an ordinary activity, the registrar issues the certificate within three working days of a complete file, and the enterprise then applies to the sector authority. A controlled-list activity is registered first, then taken to the one-stop investment service. The 2024 Investment Promotion Law sets 25 working days for that investment licence, followed by the sector licence. Concessions such as land, special economic zones, mining, energy, aviation and telecommunications take a longer review. Prohibited activities are not suggested: type-1 hazardous chemicals, radioactive minerals, weapons, narcotics, and banknote or coin-making equipment, under MOIC Notification No. 1592 of 26 August 2013.
Sample
How a result is presented
The name and risk note below are a sample, not a live register search. The activity code is from the official LSIC catalogue.
ຕົວຢ່າງການຄ້າ ບໍລິສັດຈຳກັດ
Sample Trading Limited Company
Sample Trading Co., Ltd.
- Name comparison Sample. The company register was not searched.
- LSIC 46900 Wholesale trade
- Ordinary activity: register the enterprise, then apply for the sector operating licence.
Continue with the incorporation file
Name reservation, enterprise registration and the sector licence are filed with Industry and Commerce and the competent authority. LaoBiz company registration can prepare the incorporation papers.
Sources
- Enterprise Law, No. 33/NA, 29 Dec 2022
- NED registration steps
- Decision No. 0023/MOIC.ERMD, 9 Jan 2019
- Prohibited activities, Notification 1592/MOIC, 2013