The business name of a new s.r.o.: what the registry court checks and what you answer for yourself

The business name of a new company is sometimes chosen on the basis of an available domain or a finished logo and checked by typing it into the Commercial Register search. If the same name is not there, that feels like confirmation that the name is free. The new Act on the Commercial Register, No. 29/2026 Coll., in force since 17 August 2026, defines precisely what the registry court examines in a name before registration, and it examines less than the Commercial Code requires of a name. A name that passes registration may therefore still become the subject of a dispute over the company’s name.

What the business name of an s.r.o. consists of

The business name of a commercial company is the name under which it is entered in the Commercial Register, and it includes a designation of the legal form (Section 9(2) of the Commercial Code). For an s.r.o. this is the designation “spoločnosť s ručením obmedzeným” (limited liability company) or the abbreviation “spol. s r. o.” or “s. r. o.” (Section 107). If you form the company by the simplified route using an electronic form, the Act permits only the designation “s. r. o.” (Section 110a(2)(e)). The name is a mandatory part of the memorandum of association (Section 110(1)(a)), so changing it later means amending the founding document as well as the entry in the register.

What the registry court examines

A special examination of the business name is governed by Section 51 of the Act on the Commercial Register. In carrying it out, the registry court or the registrar compares the proposed name with what is already in the registers:

Before registering a business name or a name, the registry court or the registrar shall examine whether registration is being sought of a business name or name identical with the business name or name of a person already entered, or with a business name, the designation of a public authority, the designation of a register or of other records maintained under this Act or under separate legislation. […] A designation distinguishing the legal form of a registered person is not sufficient to distinguish a business name, name or designation.

— Section 51(1) of Act No. 29/2026 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

The key word is identical. The court examines sameness, not similarity. “Alfa s. r. o.” will not pass if “Alfa, a. s.” already exists, because a different designation of legal form is not enough. The court likewise examines identity with names in the register of reserved business names (Section 51(2)). Confusability, that is whether people might mistake the name for another, is not among the matters listed for examination in Section 51, and registration is carried out within two business days of delivery of the application (Section 58(1)).

What the Commercial Code requires of a name

The Commercial Code measures a name by a stricter standard:

A business name must not be confusable with the business name of another entrepreneur, with the designation of a public authority, of a public register or of other records maintained under an Act, and must not create a misleading impression about the entrepreneur or about the line of business.

— Section 10(1) of Act No. 513/1991 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

Confusability is broader than identity. The name “Alfatech s. r. o.” is not identical with the already registered “Alfa Tech, s. r. o.”, and yet business partners may easily mistake one for the other, particularly where both companies operate in the same field. A different designation of legal form is not sufficient to distinguish the business name of a legal entity (Section 10(3)). The business names of several legal entities may express the members’ common shareholding, for example through a shared stem within a group, but they must be distinguishable from one another (Section 10(2)).

Misleadingness concerns the content of the name. A name must not create a misleading impression about the entrepreneur or about the line of business, for example by suggesting an activity the company does not carry on. Separately, the Act prohibits confusability with the designation of a public authority, a public register or other statutory records (Section 10(1)). The choice of a business name objectively capable of causing the entrepreneur to be confused with a public register or other statutory records is expressly classified by the Commercial Code among the cases of creating a likelihood of confusion, which is one of the forms of unfair competition (Section 47(2)).

What is at stake if the name conflicts

Entry in the Commercial Register does not mean that the name is sound as against everyone. A person whose rights are affected or threatened by the unauthorised use of a business name may require the unauthorised user to refrain from such conduct and to remedy the defective state of affairs (Section 12(1)), and may also claim surrender of unjust enrichment, adequate satisfaction and damages (Section 12(3)). Use of a business name already lawfully used by another competitor is, moreover, the creation of a likelihood of confusion as a form of unfair competition (Section 47(1)(a)).

If the court orders a company to refrain from using a name, it must rename itself. That requires an amendment to the memorandum of association, an application to register the change, and the replacement of contract templates, invoices, the website and the signage at its premises.

How to choose a name and secure it

• Do not stop at an exact match. Search the Commercial Register for variants with words joined or split, with different diacritics and with the same stem, and note the fields in which similar companies do business.
• Check the register of reserved business names. Reserved names are published on the dedicated portal together with the legal form (Section 111(4)).
• Check trademarks. The registry court does not examine them on registration, yet a trademark proprietor may object to the use of a business name too. The details are examined in the article on business names and trademarks.
• Secure the name by reserving it once the founding documents are nearly complete. How this works is explained in our answer on reserving a business name before forming a company, the timing in our answer on when to reserve a business name, and the situation where someone else has filed the reservation in our answer on a name reserved by another person.

We will check the availability of the name, including similar variants, and block it as part of a business name reservation. We will then prepare the memorandum of association with the correct wording of the name and the designation, and handle the whole formation of an s. r. o. in Slovakia through to registration.