Renaming a company / Question 6
Was the company renamed? What was it called before?
Search by its UID, not its name: a rename keeps the same company under the same number. Zefix shows a company’s earlier names on its page, the SHAB publishes every change of name entered in the commercial register, and the cantonal register excerpt keeps the changes in order.
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01 / Search by number
The UID stays.
A rename changes the company’s name, not the company: it stays the same legal entity with the same business identification number (UID). (HRegV Art. 116(2)) A search by UID therefore finds the company under its current name, whichever name you started from.
Zefix, the Central Business Name Index, shows a company’s earlier names on its page next to its current name, and lists its notices in the SHAB with the kind of change, such as a change of name. (Zefix) To search by an old name, extend the search to former names, in Zefix or in the UID register; without that, an old name may find nothing, or a different company that has taken it since. (Zefix; UID register)
Find a company, free02 / In the SHAB
Every change of name, published.
A change of name is entered in the commercial register, published in the SHAB and takes effect on publication. (OR Art. 936a) The notice names the company as it was called before, with its seat and UID, and then gives the new name, so one notice links the two. (SHAB)
Read the notice itself: a move of seat is published as a change too, and a change of legal form, from GmbH to AG for instance, changes the ending of the name as well. Notices from 2 September 2018 on are on shab.ch; older ones, back to 1999, are in its archive, which has a search of its own. (SHAB)
Find a company, free03 / The whole history
In order, in the canton’s excerpt.
The commercial register is public and free to consult online, and its changes must remain traceable in order. (OR Art. 936) Zefix links each company to the cantonal register that keeps it. Where there is a choice, take the excerpt with deleted entries: the earlier names appear in it, not in the excerpt of active entries alone.
Once the rename is entered, the commercial register no longer reserves the old name for the company, and another company can register it; trademarks are a separate register. (OR Arts. 951 and 956) A name alone does not tell you which company you are dealing with; the UID does.
Find a company, free04 / In Antevo
Every name, on one timeline.
Antevo Companies keeps one file per company under its UID, with its renames, seat moves, capital changes, mergers and liquidation, each with its gazette number. Finding a company by name or UID is free, and a watch tells you when it changes again.
Find a company, freeSources
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.