Technical instructions when choosing business name of company in Serbia

When establishing a firm in Serbia, besides defined rules, in practice you can often meet many irregularities which happen when choosing a company’s name whether it is the case about a legal person or an entrepreneur. If you are in the process of formation of your first firm or a starter in business, we advise you to respect all the legal rules related to choosing a business name and a title which are obligatory for everyone having business in Serbia. Those are:

• The business name must contain a title, a legal form and a place of the company’s main office. It can contain other elements if that is written by law in accordance with the legal form;
• The business name can not offend moral, can not contain abusive words and can not provoke prejudices about legal form or company’s business;
• The business name can be written in the Serbian language, whether on Cyrillic or Latin. Concretely, if the Memorandum of association or decision is written in Cyrillic, then the business name must be written in Cyrillic in the registrational application;
• The same rules are applied both for small and capital letters because the business name must be identically written in the registrational application;
• The business name of the company can contain the word ‘Serbia’, the name of a territorial unit or autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia as well as derivatives or any other forms which remind on those words. This is only possible with the approval of the authorities;
• The business name can contain the name of a foreign country or an international organization also with the approval of the authorities of that country;
• The business name can contain the personal name of a physical person, but also with the approval;
• The business name of a legal person can be a translation of a full or shortened business name on the language of a national minority or foreign language. (The name is not translated). If the company uses the translation of the business name, then it must register it;
• The company can have the name on another foreign language, it can use foreign words or characters as well as Arabic and Roman numerals (This possibility exists only for the title, not on the full business name of the company);
• The business name can not be the same or similar to the name of another company so that it would not make confusion about the identity with other companies or the registrational application will be rejected.

For example, when it comes to setting up a company in Serbia, in practice there is often a case that a future founder himself writes registration application for setting up a company, without consulting a competent person about filling the application or choosing a business name to cut his starting expenses.

Besides the name and title he decides for, he adds ‘Serbia’ as well. However, the business name and the title can not contain the word ‘Serbia’ so the application is rejected. This mistake happens because they do not consult a competent person or have a detailed check up on what is allowed in the title and what is not.

After a few days, you get a notification about rejecting the application from the Business registers agency. To register the company in Belgrade, you have to pay again the expense of the company’s registration.

1. Steps prior company registration in Serbia

Technical instructions and rules when choosing the business name

There are clear rules in the Business register agency which must be respected in order for the application to be regular and approved. Those are:

• The company’s title must contain at least three characters ( do not count numbers or symbols like. , -, & or similar;
• If you add the founder’s initials, or two other letters or numbers; if you write a combination of existing titles or if that word is divided with a hyphen or space, that application would not be approved
• If in the title are used words which on Serbian or English are written differently, but have the same or similar pronunciation, and there exists a company with that name, the application would not be approved
• If in the title we use a word which explains the company’s activity (which are written differently but have the same or similar pronunciation) for example commerce, trade, group, company, export, import, engineering or similar, they are considered as words which make the difference in relation with the existing title
• If you apply for the title which contains a word which directs to activity and in the register, there is already a company with the title which contains the word derived from the main one (trans-transport, invest – investment or similar) the application would not be possible.

How to check the availability of the name?

Before you register the business name and start your business in Serbia, there is a possibility of checking whether the title is free or not. You can do that on the site of the Business register agency through insight in the base of the central register.

READ MORE: HOW TO SELECT LEGAL FORM WHILE ESTABLISHING A FIRM IN SERBIA >>

Also on the agency’s site, you can reserve the title. The reservation is done by sending an application together with the proof that you have paid a tax of 1000 dinars. In 5 days, the BRA issues a confirmation that you reserved the title and if all the criteria are met, then it is guaranteed to the applicant that the name will be reserved for 60 days.

The reservation can be very practical for many reasons:

• You can get the answer very quickly whether the title is acceptable or not
• Saves the time of going and waiting on a counter
• The chance to repeat the procedure of setting up and registering the title decreases

2. Steps after company formation in Serbia

Protect the company’s business name

Every legal person has the right to protect its business name according to the Companies Law. The business name is a symbol of the company, so the legal person has the right to differ from the competition and to protect itself. The business name and the title can be protected in these ways:

• Registering the stamp
• Legal actions in extreme situations

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The stamp registration is done by applying to the Intellectual property office and represents the best and the safest way to protect the business name. In that case, it represents the intellectual property of the company.

Legal action can be an alternative solution in certain situations. If a wrong evaluation happens and registration of the company with the same or similar name is approved ( like the name of another legal person which has been registered and practices the activity ) there is confusion whether it is the same company. The damaged company, in this case, can ask other companies to change the name or to pay certain compensation.

Before you register the company, you must go through all the enlisted steps in order to avoid mistakes or double expenses. We advise you to find a reliable accounting agency on time; the one that will keep books for your future company and then consult with an experienced accountant with all the questions for which you need competent and clear answers.

READ MORE: LIST OF ACCOUNTING SERVICES THAT YOUR COMPANY WILL NEED FOR OPERATION IN SERBIA >>

Before you set up your company, it is very important to find an accounting agency that will take care of your legal person. The accountant will be able to consult you in every moment and give you a piece of advice about all the questions and doubts about setting up the company, choosing the title and the business name.

A competent and reliable accounting company in every moment can offer you a wide specter of legal services necessary for the activities of your firm or company.