Although this may seem a simple start, company identity is often a more complex question than it may appear to be.
Many companies have similar names, but are separate, distinct companies based in different cities.
For example, Ford may refer to Ford Motor Company or The Ford Foundation. Subsidiaries may be easily confused with their parent companies. RJR Nabisco, for example, is a public company which owns subsidiaries Nabisco and RJ Reynolds. Form of ownership is not always easy to guess either. Large, well known companies, such as Hallmark Cards, may be private.