Company Registration: Naming, Director Address, Notarization, and Trademark Priority

In Japan's corporate registry, uniqueness of a company name is determined by the pair of name plus registered address, not by the name alone — the only exception is when the name is protected by a registered trademark, which can block use of an identical name even at a different address. Registering a company does not require owning real estate; a registered office address is sufficient, and ownership in one's own name is not a prerequisite. When notarizing incorporation documents, the notary requires an official translation of any foreign-language documents; originals without translation are not accepted. A director does not need to physically live in the same city as the company's registered address — this is not prohibited, but it does require a separate filing whenever the director's address changes. When a representative director (代表者, daihyōsha) changes address, the change must be filed with the 法務局 (Legal Affairs Bureau, Hōmukyoku) covering the company's place of registration within two weeks, with a filing fee of 10,000 yen (1 man). In Minato Ward, the updated address is reflected on the 登記事項証明書 (certificate of registered matters) only about a month after filing. Failure to notify of the director's move can expose the company to a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen; the tax office must also be notified (fine of up to 50,000 yen for failure), as must the pension office. On trademarks: Japan applies a first-to-file rule for trademarks — whoever files the application first becomes the owner, regardless of who used the mark first. This differs from the United States, where first use establishes trademark rights (first-to-use).