The City of London has barred cloud firm Salesforce.com from putting its name on London's Heron Tower. The US tech company planned to rename the 46 storey building "Salesforce Tower", after it acquired naming rights in a new tenancy agreement. It occupies six floors, or about 18% of the building.

Unluckily for Salesforce, other tenants of the building objected, and London's Planning and Transportation Committee said the rebranding wasn't justifiable, as Salesforce.com only occupies six floors, or 18% of the building.

The committee says that building names should relate to the site owner, building use, local history or geography. Its naming and numbering guidelines restrict name changes to a tenant that is the dominant building occupier today and is likely to remain so for a reasonable time into the future.

Eslewhwere, in April Salesforce.com agreed to lease more than 50% of San Francisco’s tallest building – The Transbay Tower – which is currently under construction and due to be renamed Salesforce Tower.

However, it seems construction plans may be put on hold after an agreement over a proposed tax district between San Francisco city officials and downtown developers collapsed, meaning the build could be subject to protracted litigation.

The tax district is part of San Francisco’s financing plans for both the Transbay/Salesforce Tower and a US$2.6bn Caltrain extension into a new transit center.

Global retail technology company Powa Technologies is headquartered at Heron Tower and was among the tenants within the building to voice their concerns over the name change.

Powa Technologies founder and CEO Dan Wagner said the rejection is a victory for the City of London and for common sense.

“The committee had never before been asked to rename a building for a commercial tenant that was not the sole occupier, and we are pleased that they did not set an unpopular new precedent here,” Wagner said.

“This milestone decision will protect the integrity of the City’s landmark buildings. Other businesses will also now be safe from the difficult situation of having the prestige of their offices devalued by being named after another company."

Although Heron Tower is no longer set to be branded Salesforce Tower it has been renamed to 110 Bishopsgate - after its geographical location. The Heron name refers to its owner, Heron International.