Wakilii

Almutazim Tour Travel Limited v Multazam TravelsSMC Limited (Company Complaint 11325 of 2022)

Tribunal · [2023] UGRSB 13 · 2023 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Company complaint seeking directive to change respondent's company name under Companies Act s.40(2)
Decision
Respondent directed to change company name within six weeks

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Held that the company name Multazam Travels-SMC Limited was registered in error as it is confusingly similar to the earlier-registered Almutazim Tour and Travel Limited. The words Multazam and Almutazim have the same meaning in Arabic, both companies operate in the same business of Islamic pilgrimage services, and an ordinary person would not distinguish between them. Under Companies Act s.40(2), the Registrar directed the respondent to change its company name within six weeks.

Outcome

Respondent directed to change company name within six weeks

Facts

The applicant, Almutazim Tour and Travel Limited, was incorporated on 10 December 2015 to provide Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage services to Mecca and Medina. In July 2020, the applicant discovered that unknown individuals were advertising under the name Multazam Travels for similar services. On 8 August 2022, the respondent was incorporated as Multazam Travels-SMC Limited. On 17 October 2022, the respondent passed a special resolution adding Hajj and Umrah services as its main business objective, identical to the applicant's. The applicant contended that the two names are confusingly similar because Multazam and Almutazim have the same meaning in Arabic, both referring to a specific part of the Kaaba in Mecca, and both companies operate in the same business and location. The Uganda Bureau of Hajj Affairs confirmed in a letter dated 1 December 2022 that the existence of both names on the register is likely to confuse the Bureau and the general public.

Issues

  1. Whether the name Multazam Travels-SMC Limited is similar to Almutazim Tour and Travel Limited.
  2. What are the available remedies.

Orders

  • The Director of Multazam Travels-SMC Limited is directed to change the company name within six weeks from the date of this ruling.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Company Law — Company Names — Similarity — Test for Confusing Similarity
In determining whether a company name is too similar to an existing registered name under Companies Act s.40(2), the registrar must consider whether an ordinary person can distinguish between the two names. The word 'similar' means 'looking or being almost, but not exactly, the same' and does not require the names to be identical.
Company Law — Company Names — Distinguishing Features — Standard Terms
Standard terms such as 'Travels' which describe the nature of business, and mandatory suffixes such as 'SMC' for single member companies, cannot be viewed as distinguishing features between company names. Where the only difference between two names is the addition of a single short word or prefix, this may be too narrow to distinguish the entities in the eyes of an ordinary person.
Company Law — Company Names — Similarity — Foreign Language Meaning
Where two company names have the same meaning in a foreign language relevant to the companies' business operations and target market, and both companies operate in the same business sector, the names may be found to be confusingly similar even if they appear different in English transliteration.
Company Law — Company Names — Change of Name — Registrar's Discretion
Under Companies Act s.40(2), where a company is registered by a name which in the opinion of the registrar is too similar to the name of an existing registered company, the registrar may direct the subsequently registered company to change its name within six weeks. The registrar's discretion under s.36(2) to reject undesirable names must be exercised judiciously, guided by considerations including similarity with existing names.
Company Law — Company Names — Evidence of Confusion — Regulatory Authority
A letter from a regulatory authority confirming that the existence of two similar company names on the register is likely to confuse the authority and the general public constitutes relevant evidence in determining whether the names are confusingly similar.

Legislation cited (2)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Almutazim Tour Travel Limited v Multazam TravelsSMC Limited (Company Complaint 11325 of 2022) 2023 UGRSB 13 (20 January 2023)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.