# Company Names and Trademarks in Estonia > A trademark helps with only one of the two tests for an Estonian company name. A business that already trades under a brand usually wants the same name for its Estonian company. The Business Register applies two separate tests to that name, and a trademark for the brand helps with only one of them. ## Company Name and Brand The registered name of an Estonian company is its business name, in Estonian ärinimi or firma. The two words mean the same thing. A company can register one name and sell under a brand. Its commercial documents and website still have to show the registered name, location and registry code. The two tests below apply to the registered name. ## Similar Names The first test compares the name with every name already registered or reserved in Estonia, whatever those companies do. The law sets no rule on how many letters have to differ. The register’s own examples are Pill and Lill, where one letter can be enough, and Fotoluks and Photolux, where three letters are not. The register looks at spelling, sound and overall impression, so a different spelling does not help when the name sounds the same. Viking Nordic was refused in a recent case because of the existing Nordviking and VikingsNord. The field of activity makes no difference to this test, and similar names already on the register do not help. Common words often fail here. A search for a word such as Consulting returns thousands of similar names. A trademark does not change this test. We have seen the register refuse a name as too close in sound to an existing company, although the trademark owner’s consent was attached to the application. ## Trademarks The second test looks for trademarks protected in Estonia, and EU trademarks count. A company name cannot use a protected word without the owner’s consent, unless the company works outside the fields the mark covers. The result therefore depends on the planned activity. A search for Guardian flags many more trademarks for computer programming than for growing cereals or retail sale. One matching word can be enough. Prompt Guardian was refused for a programming company because of the EU mark GUARDIAN, and a partial overlap with the services the mark covers was sufficient. Reversing the words did not help in another case. The rule also applies if the company later moves into a field the mark covers. A word that only describes the service is not protected on its own for that service, so a trademark containing the word for construction cannot stop a construction company using it. The name search gives only an estimate, and the register decides. ## Consent If the mark belongs to the owner’s existing company abroad, that company has to give the consent, even when the same person runs both. The consent has to be notarized or digitally signed and goes in with the application. It covers only that owner’s mark and answers only the trademark test. ## When the Register Refuses The register gives a deadline, often 15 days, to choose a new name or provide the consent. A new name means a corrected application and articles of association, signed again, and the register’s five working days for review start again. If the deadline passes, the application is refused. An appeal is possible. In two recent trademark cases, the appeal was decided five and ten weeks after the register’s ruling, and both refusals stood. Adding a word can solve the first test, and the added word has to pass both tests too. Common words such as Aqua and Group are already EU trademarks in some fields. Where no version of the brand passes, the company can register a different name and keep the brand for its customers. ## After Registration A company can go to court to stop another from using a name that is not clearly distinguishable from its own, even after the register has accepted that name. Trademark owners can also prohibit use of a sign in trade, including as a company name, under Estonian and EU law. The exception for a person’s own name covers individuals, so a company cannot rely on it. A trademark gives its owner the right to stop others and gives no right to a particular company name. Its protection dates back to the application once it is registered, so a company name entered while the application was pending can later be challenged. A registered company name also counts against a later trademark in the same field. A mark registered only in another country is outside the Estonian test and can still matter in that country. ## Our Services We register Estonian companies for owners abroad, online with e-Residency or [at a notary in Tallinn](https://capture.ee/notary-formation/). We check the name against the register and the trademarks for the planned activity before filing, prepare the trademark owner’s consent where one is needed and respond to the register’s rulings. [Contact us](https://capture.ee/company-formation/#contact) to discuss a name. --- Source: https://capture.ee/company-names-trademarks-estonia/