How do you protect a company name in Germany?

Why should I protect my company name as a trademark?

Registering your company name as a trademark gives you the exclusive right to use it. This allows you to take action against competitors who imitate or misuse your brand.

Without protection, copycats can easily appear—for example, by selling look-alike products on platforms like Amazon or eBay. With a registered trademark, you can have these listings removed quickly by submitting your trademark certificate. Many marketplaces even offer dedicated tools for this, such as Amazon Brand Registry or eBay’s VeRI programme.

If a competitor uses your name in the same or a similar industry, you can not only demand that they stop—you may also claim damages, including any profit they made by infringing your trademark.

What to consider before choosing your trademark

To find out whether a company name is suitable for trademark protection, you’ll want to check whether the name meets the following criteria before you start filing the trademark application:

Generic terms

General terms such as ‘office chair’ for selling office chairs or ‘pasta’ for selling noodles are not suitable product names. Even attributes such as ‘cheap’ or ‘tasty’, which are often used in advertising, are not distinct enough to be protected as trademarks.

Availability check

Be sure to check if your desired company name is still available. To do this, you should consult all available trademark registers, EU-wide or even internationally. Find out whether similar or even identical names are already protected by trademark law in your sector.

Consulting the German commercial register is a good place to start. You might find similar company names that are not protected by a trademark yet.

To avoid conflicts, you should either choose a different name or register as a trademark as quickly as possible – before your competitors do. If a competitor has applied for trademark protection even one day before you, they have priority and you won’t be able to protect your name. The trademark offices will not refund the fees for failed applications!

We also recommend that you check to see whether domains containing your name are still available. It’s best to look for alternative spellings and typos. Read more here.

Symbols or national emblems

Your company name may not contain symbols of state sovereignty, so-called ‘emblems’. State sovereignty refers to officials and functionaries such as the police, the military or the federal government. For example, you’re not allowed to call your company ‘Federal Chancellor’ or ‘Supreme Court’. Any unauthorised use of national emblems will be prosecuted.

Morality or public order offences

You cannot protect an immoral name. That means that words that violate current social and legal morals may not be registered as company names. The denigration of existing company names and real persons in their own company names is also taboo (§ 1 UWG). Otherwise, you’ll have to pay damages (§ 826 BGB).

Misleading

You can’t have a name protected by trademark law that could mislead your customers. For example, your company name may not contain any location attributes that do not apply to your location or indicate organic production if it was actually carried out with conventional means.

Protect your company logo

Trademark protection is not only worthwhile for the company name. The company logo in particular is often the first thing that customers notice about your company, and thus your most important figurehead.

Since the design of a striking and attractive company logo takes a lot of time and money, it’s even more important to have this company logo protected. Imitators may risk misusing your logo and making money at your expense. If you protect your company logo as a trademark, you have the right to take action against these imitators and claim damages, if necessary.

The same rules apply to trademark protection for company logos as to company names. The following conditions must be met:

• Distinctive character
• Availability
• No national emblems
• Neither immoral nor disorderly
• Not confusing

Trademark registration in Germany and internationally

In summary, trademark protection in Germany requires a trademark application at the Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt (DPMA). For EU-wide protection, trademarks must be registered at the Office of the European Union for Intellectual Property (EUIPO).

If you want to register your company name or logo outside the EU, register it with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Through the so-called IR trademark, you choose in which of the 126 member countries of the Madrid System your protection should apply. Because international applications are costly and require thorough research, they are generally not recommended for new entrepreneurs.

Types of trademarks

It’s best to register a word mark to protect your company name. This protects a sequence of letters, numbers, and special characters. If you apply for a figurative mark, you can combine lettering and an illustration. This is especially recommended for protecting a company logo.

How long is the trademark protection for a company name valid?

If an application for protection of a trademark is accepted, the trademark registration is initially valid for 10 years and can be renewed as often as required. Each extension is also associated with costs. At the DPMA, for example, the extension of trademark protection costs €750. If the trademark is valid for more than three classes of goods and services, an additional €260 will be charged for each additional class.

Does my commercial register entry protect my brand?

In principle, registration in the commercial register does not protect against anyone else claiming the name. If certain conditions are met, a company name can be protected solely by its use as a company symbol. This form of protection is valid if a large proportion of the buyers of the products or services of a trademark assign exactly this trademark to your company.

In practice, however, this is usually difficult to prove. For this reason, we recommend protecting your company name or your company logo as a trademark. With this type of protection, it’s legally much easier to prohibit another company from using the company name.