As an Estonian e-resident, securing a business name before officially registering your company in Estonia was impossible before March 2024. Now, you can do that to ensure that your desired name is kept for your business whenever you plan to register it. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to reserve your business name in Estonia.
Why Reserve a Business Name?
Reserving a business name helps you avoid delays when registering your company in Estonia. Each time your name proposal is rejected by the court, you can lose up to five working days that they can take to review your application, considering the legal deadlines. The bad news is that you can only submit one name proposal at a time when registering a company. So if your third desired name is accepted, it may be close to one month lost trying to figure out what the clerks will accept and what not. It also gives you peace of mind that your chosen name won’t be taken by another entity before you complete your company registration.
You can also go for all the domain names, social media handles and trademarks well before registering your company, knowing that you can pass all these to your new company in Estonia with the same name.
Steps to Reserve a Business Name
Check Name Availability
Before reserving, verify if your desired business name is available. You can do this through the Unicount app or the e-Business Register.
Follow Naming Guidelines
Ensure your chosen name complies with Estonian regulations. The name should be unique, not misleading, and not too similar to existing company names. This article provides detailed guidelines.
Application Process
Submit a name reservation application via the Estonian e-Business Register. The application process is straightforward and can be completed online after logging in with the e-resident card or Smart-ID.
If approved, the name will be reserved for six months. You need to choose the legal form and business activity for which you intend to register with the same name immediately. Still, few e-residents register anything besides private limited companies (OÜ or osaühing in Estonian). Registering your company with the same planned field activity is easy, even if your original idea has shifted slightly unless you go for a regulated field such as a travel agency or financial services. The reason is that Estonian law does not restrain your company’s activities in other non-regulated fields.
Pros and cons
We do not want to leave you thinking it is amazing without introducing the positive and negative aspects of reserving your business name before registering a company in Estonia.
Pros
- You can reserve a business name as a private person without having any legal person in Estonia
- It leaves you time to negotiate the details of your company with your co-founders and investors
- You can start marketing activities under the brand name before having a legal person
- It gives you some limited protection for brand name before applying for a trademark in Estonia or the EU
- If you already own a trademark in the EU, you can add this to your application to prove your right to have the name reserved for you
- You can authorize other persons to use the name you reserved
Cons
- You can only register one name per person
- You still need an e-resident card to sign the application in the e-Business Register
- The application state fee is 150 euros, while the company registration state fee is 265 euros
- The registration is valid for six months only
- You can only extend it for three months at a time
- When you miss the extension deadline, you cannot reserve the same name again
Tips for a Successful Reservation
By following these steps and tips, you can ensure that your business name reservation process is smooth and successful, allowing you to apply for company registration in Estonia confidently.
Uniqueness
Choose a unique name that reflects your business identity. You need to come up with a good name using the Latin alphabet. Your company name must be unique and distinguishable.
Compliance
Adhere to the regulations and compare against similar names to avoid losing time on rejection. As you search for the perfect name, you might see that we found similar or matching business names or trademarks. A matching result means that the same name is registered, and there is a very low chance that you will get that name for your company.
Professional Help
Consider consulting legal experts or Unicount to streamline the process.
For detailed assistance and professional guidance, Unicount offers comprehensive support to e-residents looking to establish their businesses in Estonia. Visit the Unicount website for more information.
Thanks for reading
We hope you enjoyed this article. For more questions, check out Unicount’s extensive support articles here.
