A merchant shall have a trade name and shall record it in the Commercial Register. The name may consist of his name as recorded in the Civil Register, an innovative name, or a combination of both; it may also include words indicating the type of commercial activity. In all cases, the name must be appropriate and may not be misleading, inconsistent with Sharia, or undermine public interest.

Subject to the provisions of the Companies Law, a company’s name shall be its trade name and it may include an innovative name or include words indicating the type of commercial activity in which the company is engaged.

The trade name shall consist of Arabic or Arabized words, and shall not include foreign words. This shall not apply to names of foreign companies registered abroad, companies with well-known international names, and companies of mixed capital to be specified by a decision issued by the Minister of Commerce.

An application for registering a trade name shall be submitted to the Commercial Registration Office. If more than one merchant or company applies to register the same name, priority shall be given to the first person who used it publicly.

If an application for registering a name is approved, it shall be published in the manner specified in the implementing regulations. The Commercial Registration Office may reject an application pursuant to a reasoned decision within 30 days from the date of application.

No other merchant may, upon registration of a name in the Commercial Register, use the registered name in the Kingdom for his commercial activity. If the trade name applied for is similar to a trade name already registered in the Commercial Register, the merchant shall add to that name one or more words to distinguish it from the name already registered.

A merchant, whether an individual or a company, shall display his trade name clearly on the front of his place of business as well as all on his printed materials. If the trade name of an individual merchant differs from his name as registered in the Civil Register, the merchant shall record his full name as registered in the Civil Register on all his printed materials and he shall sign all of his commercial transactions using such name.

Disposition of a trade name may not be made independently of the place of business. Disposition of the place of business may not include its trade name, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing; in such case, the transferee shall add a statement to the name signifying the transfer of ownership. If the transferor agrees to the transferee’s use of the original trade name without any addition, he shall be responsible for any obligations the transferee undertakes under such name if the transferee fails to fulfill them.

The person to whom ownership of a trade name is transferred shall have the rights and be responsible for the obligations undertaken by the commercial business which operated under such name. Nevertheless, the previous owner shall remain jointly responsible with the current owner for the fulfillment of such obligations. Any agreement to the contrary shall not be binding on third parties, unless it is recorded in the Commercial Register; a notice is delivered to third parties by registered mail; and it is published in the Official Gazette and another Saudi newspaper, provided that no objection is made within 30 days following the date of delivery of the notice or the date of publication in the newspaper, whichever is earlier. A lawsuit relating to the current owner's responsibility for the previous owner’s obligations shall not be heard upon the lapse of five years from the date of transfer of ownership of the commercial business.

If ownership of a commercial business is transferred without its trade name, the previous owner shall be responsible for the obligations undertaken prior to the transfer of ownership of the commercial business, unless there is an agreement providing for the joint responsibility of the current owner for such obligations.