Renaming a company / Question 4
Do I need to file the trademark again?
Intelligence, not legal advice. Screening is a starting point, not a clearance opinion.
If the trademark is the company’s name, yes. A registered mark cannot be changed, so the new name needs an application of its own. Marks for product names that stay the same are not affected: only the holder’s name in the register needs updating, free of charge.
01 / A mark is fixed
The sign cannot be changed.
Once a trademark is registered, neither the mark nor its list of goods and services can be changed or extended; goods and services can only be removed. (IPI, Updating your register entry)
A trademark right arises with the entry in the register and belongs to whoever files first. (MSchG Arts. 5 and 6) Until the new name is filed, it is not a trademark of yours.
Check the new name ↑02 / The new filing
What a new mark costs.
The IPI’s filing fee is CHF 450 for ten years of protection, with a class surcharge of CHF 100 per class from the fourth class on. (IPI, Costs and fees, as of 1 July 2024)
The application names the applicant, shows the mark and lists the goods or services it claims. (MSchG Art. 28)
Check the new name ↑03 / The old mark
Keep it, or let it go.
The mark under the old name stays registered until its term ends without renewal, or until its holder asks for it to be cancelled. (MSchG Art. 35(a) and (b))
A mark left unused for an uninterrupted five years can no longer be asserted, unless there are proper reasons for the non-use. (MSchG Art. 12(1)) Whether to keep the old mark is a decision for you and your counsel.
Check the new name ↑04 / In Antevo
Screen the new name before you file it.
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 is a first screen, not a clearance opinion: a trademark attorney confirms what to file and where. No account needed; the answer appears on this page.
Check the new name ↑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.