Your Swiss company name is not a trademark.
Registering a Sàrl or SA gives you a company name. Your brand needs a trademark. Here is what each one covers, where they collide, and the order in which to secure both.
Does registering my company protect my brand?
Only partly. A company name (raison de commerce in French, Firma in German) is the name under which a business is entered in the commercial register. A trademark is a sign, such as a name or logo, registered with the IPI for specific goods and services.
Registering the company protects the name as the name of your business, not as a brand for what you sell. The two registers are run by different authorities and neither checks the other: the IPI states that it does not examine older trademarks, company names or domain names. That gap is where most naming problems start.
“Entering your business name in the commercial register does not automatically protect it as a trade mark.”
Sources: IPI, starting a company; IPI, risk of conflict; Federal Office of Justice, company name searches
What does a registered company name not protect?
Six things the commercial register will not do for you, and what each one means once your name is out in the market.
Near matches get through
When the registry compares a new company name with existing ones, it only checks whether they are identical. Change a single letter and the new name may still be accepted. Whether the two can be confused is for a court to decide.
Earlier trademarks are not checked
You can found a company whose name clashes with an earlier trademark. The trademark owner can then stop you using the name on business papers, in advertising and on your products.
It covers the company, not the product
If another business uses your name for an app or a product, you usually have to rely on unfair competition law or the right to a name, and prove a real risk of confusion.
3 months
No opposition for company names
Only an earlier trademark owner can oppose a new mark at the IPI within that window. With a company name alone, you go to court.
Strong in Switzerland, uncertain abroad
Companies such as an SA, Sàrl or partnership, and cooperatives, are protected across Switzerland. A sole proprietorship only in the same locality. Abroad, local law decides, and protection usually depends on being known there.
You cannot reserve a company name
Protection starts when the entry is published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. A trademark application, by contrast, can be filed today and counts from that date.
Sources: Federal Office of Justice; Code of Obligations, Art. 946, 951, 956; Trademark Protection Act, Art. 13, 31; Unfair Competition Act, Art. 3(1)(d); Paris Convention, Art. 8
What is the difference between a company name and a trademark?
Both rights can apply to the same word. What they let you do is different.
| SACompany name | ®Trademark | |
|---|---|---|
| What it protects | The name under which a business is registered and operates | A sign used for the goods and services listed in the registration |
| How you get it | Entry in the cantonal commercial register, published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce | Registration with the IPI |
| Territory | All of Switzerland for companies (SA, Sàrl, partnerships) and cooperatives. The same locality for a sole proprietorship | Switzerland |
| What is checked on filing | Legal requirements, and whether an identical company name already exists. Similar names are not refused | Formal requirements and absolute grounds, such as a purely descriptive name. No check against earlier trademarks, company names or domains |
| How others challenge you | Civil action by the holder of an earlier right | Opposition by the owner of an earlier mark within three months of publication, or civil action |
| Duration | As long as the entry stays in the register | Ten years from filing, renewable. After five years of non-use it can no longer be enforced and can be cancelled |
| Official cost | Part of the company formation fees | CHF 350 online for up to three classes |
Checked 27 October 2026. Legal basis: Art. 946, 951 and 956 of the Code of Obligations; Art. 3, 10, 12, 13 and 31 of the Trademark Protection Act. Fees: IPI fee schedule.
How a name goes wrong in four months
A fictional case, built from a pattern we see often.
- March
A founder's new Sàrl is entered in the commercial register of Vaud. No identical name exists, so the registry accepts it.
- April
The founder buys the domain, prints packaging and launches the website.
- June
The owner of an earlier Swiss trademark for a very similar name, registered for the same products, sends a letter.
- July
The company keeps its register entry but has to stop using the name on its products. New packaging, new website, new domain.
What would have prevented it
A trademark search before the company was founded. Our Swiss Trademark package, from CHF 850 excluding VAT, covers the availability search and risk assessment, then files your mark in three classes with the IPI filing fee included.
In what order should you secure the name?
Search both registers
Check Zefix for company names and Swissreg for trademarks. Look for similar names in your field, not only exact matches. Check domains and social media handles at the same time.
File the trademark
File before you spend money on the name. The filing date sets your priority. If the company does not exist yet, a founder can file and transfer the mark to the company later.
Register the company
Choose a company name that matches the brand and is clearly distinct from existing entries. Protection starts on publication in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce.
Use it and watch it
Use the mark for the goods and services you registered and keep evidence of use. Watch new trademark filings so you can oppose within three months of publication.
Company names and trademarks: common questions
Do I have to register my company name as a trademark?
No. There is no legal obligation. A trademark makes sense when the name appears on products, packaging, your website or in advertising. A holding company that never trades under its own name may not need one.
Source: IPI: starting a company
Can someone register a trademark that matches my company name?
It can happen. The IPI does not check new applications against company names, and only the owner of an earlier trademark can file an opposition. A company-name owner who wants to stop the mark has to go to court.
Source: IPI: risk of conflict
Can I reserve a company name before I found the company?
No. Company names cannot be reserved in Switzerland. Protection starts when the entry is published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. A trademark application, on the other hand, can be filed at any time, and its filing date counts from that day.
Source: Federal Office of Justice
What if the company does not exist yet when I want to file the trademark?
A founder can file the application in their own name and transfer the mark to the company once it is entered in the register. Record the transfer with the IPI so the register shows the right owner.
Source: IPI: starting a company
Does my company name protect my domain name?
Not by itself. Domain names go to whoever registers them first. For .ch and .li domains, the dispute procedure accepts a company name as well as a trademark. For .com and other generic domains, the UDRP requires a trademark, so a company name alone is usually not enough.
Source: ICANN: UDRP, para. 4(a)
Is my company name protected outside Switzerland?
Only to a limited extent. The Swiss commercial register has no effect abroad. Under Article 8 of the Paris Convention, member countries protect foreign trade names without registration, but in practice this usually requires the business to be known or used there. A trademark filed in each market gives you a clear right.
Source: Paris Convention, Art. 8
Clear the name before you register the company.
DO Innovations SA in Lausanne checks the name as a trademark before the company is entered, then coordinates the notary and the commercial register. You can also book the trademark filing on its own.
Official sources
This guide draws on the IPI, the Federal Office of Justice, Swiss federal law, WIPO and ICANN. Sources were checked on 27 October 2026.
- IPI: starting a company
- Federal Office of Justice: company name searches and protection (German)
- Code of Obligations, Art. 946, 951 and 956
- Trademark Protection Act, Art. 3, 6, 10, 12, 13 and 31
- Unfair Competition Act, Art. 3
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Art. 8 (WIPO)
- ICANN: Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
- WIPO: .ch domain decision DCH2021-0021
- IPI: earlier rights and conflicts
- IPI: filing an opposition
- IPI: trademark fees
- Zefix: central business name index
- Swissreg: Swiss trademark register
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees can change; check the official sources before you register.