UID (business identification number)

Illustrative example; names are placeholders and the facts are invented. Company A GmbH renames itself Company B GmbH. The register enters the new name, and the entry keeps its business identification number, which never changes (HRegV Art. 116(2)). The company's trademarks still list the holder as Company A GmbH until the change is reported to the IPI, which is free. A buyer checking the company years later searches Zefix by the UID rather than the name: before and after the rename, the number leads to the same entity.

Permanent. The UID identifies an entity permanently and cannot be changed. An entity that has none is given one at the latest when it is entered in the register. (HRegV Art. 116(1)-(2))

After a deletion. The UID of a deleted entity is never given to another; it comes back only if the same entity is entered again, for example on a court's order. (HRegV Art. 116(3))

Mergers. In a merger by absorption, the absorbing entity keeps its UID; a merger that creates a new entity gives it a new one. (HRegV Art. 116(4))

The number itself. The UID is made up of the country code CHE and nine digits, allocated at random, and says nothing about the business. A suffix shows whether it is entered in the commercial register (HR), subject to VAT (MWST) or both; the suffix is not part of the UID. (FSO, The UID in general)