Is the new name free as a trademark?

The commercial register will not tell you. A new entry does not protect a name as a trademark, and the IPI registers marks without checking them for conflicts.

Does the rename change who owns the old trademarks?

No. The company stays the same legal entity and keeps its marks. The trademark register shows the old name until the change is reported, which is free.

What happens to the old name? Can someone else take it?

The commercial register no longer protects it once the rename is entered. As a trademark, it stays the company’s while the mark is registered, renewed and used.

Do I need to file the trademark again?

For the new name, yes: a registered mark cannot be changed, so the new name needs its own application. Marks that keep their name only need the holder’s name updated.

What changes in the register, on paper and in contracts?

The articles first, then the entry: a rename takes effect when it is published in the SHAB. From then on, letters and invoices carry the new name in full; the company itself stays the same.

Antevo / Renaming a company

A new name, the same company.

In the twelve months to September 2026, 9,577 companies in Switzerland changed the distinctive part of their registered name. A rename changes the name, not the company, and the new entry does not protect the new name as a trademark. These pages answer the questions that come up on the way, each with its sources and one place in Antevo to act on it.

Written by Antevo · 18 October 2026

See the questions ↓

The drawing: one company line runs into the commercial register without a break. Half way, the name changes from the old one to the new one; the company stays the same, with the same identification number. Below, the renamed companies by legal form.

Renamed, by legal form

GmbH3,590
AG3,458
Sole proprietorships2,158
Other legal forms371

Commercial register

9,577

companies changed the distinctive part of their registered name in the twelve months to September 2026. The new entry does not protect the new name as a trademark.

Antevo count of SHAB notices · as of 18 October 2026Sources 1

01 / The questions

Five questions, answered.

An Antevo count of rename notices from the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, and the rules from fedlex.admin.ch and the IPI, each with its source on the page.

02 / In Antevo

Check the new name against the trademarks.

The free check screens a name across 50+ trademark registers and lists the marks near it, with office, status and the holder where it is a company. It takes a minute, needs no account, and the answer appears on this page.

Check the new name

Free · No account needed

Sources

Where this comes from.

The count behind the figures and the primary sources for every legal point. Intelligence, not advice: nothing here is legal advice, and a trademark attorney or your lawyer confirms whether a new name is free and what a rename means for your contracts.

Antevo count of the change notices in the commercial register (rubric HR02) published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SHAB) from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 whose title shows a new company name. Each company is counted once, and only where the distinctive part of the name changed: not just the legal form, the capitalisation or an “in Liquidation” suffix. Branches are excluded. Legal form is read from the name for AG and GmbH and from the register entry for all others. As of 18 October 2026. Counts only: no company is named.

The new name goes on everything. Check it first.

Intelligence, not legal advice. Screening is a starting point, not a clearance opinion.