diff --git a/lib/Lacuna/Verify.pm b/lib/Lacuna/Verify.pm
index f86be3eb..e081a8bb 100644
--- a/lib/Lacuna/Verify.pm
+++ b/lib/Lacuna/Verify.pm
@@ -56,12 +56,12 @@ sub no_profanity {
 
 sub no_restricted_chars {
     my $self = shift;
-    return $self->ok(${$self->content} !~ m/[@&<>;\{\}]/);
+    return $self->ok(${$self->content} !~ m/[@&<>;\{\}\(\)]/);
 }
 
 sub no_padding {
     my $self = shift;
-    return $self->ok(${$self->content} !~ m/^\s/ && ${$self->content} !~ m/\s$/);
+    return $self->ok(${$self->content} !~ m/^\s/ && ${$self->content} !~ m/\s\s/ && ${$self->content} !~ m/\s$/);
 }
 
 sub no_tags {
diff --git a/t/bugs/0023_EmpireNameChecks.t b/t/bugs/0023_EmpireNameChecks.t
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..161e4dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/bugs/0023_EmpireNameChecks.t
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+use lib '../../lib','..';
+use Test::More tests => 2;
+use 5.010;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+my $result;
+
+use TestHelper;
+TestHelper->clear_all_test_empires;
+
+my $tester = TestHelper->new({empire_name => 'TLE Test  Multiple   Spaces'});
+$tester->cleanup;
+
+$result = $tester->post('empire', 'is_name_available', [$tester->empire_name]);
+is($result->{error}{code}, 1000, 'empire name has multiple spaces');
+
+$result = $tester->post('empire', 'is_name_available', ['TLE Test (Culture)']);
+is($result->{error}{code}, 1000, 'empire name has brackets');
+
+END {
+#    TestHelper->clear_all_test_empires;
+}
+
+