Registering a company in the Commercial Register does not give you a trademark. The company name identifies the legal entity; a trademark protects the brand you sell under — the name on the product, the logo, the app. Until it is registered, a competitor can file the same name first and, in the worst case, force you to rebrand.
Company name, domain, trademark
| What it protects | Where it is registered | |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | The name of the legal entity | Commercial Register |
| Domain name | An internet address | A domain registrar |
| Trademark | The brand for the goods and services listed, against identical and similar marks | Bulgarian Patent Office or EUIPO |
Step 1: check that the name is free — and registrable
- Search earlier marks, identical and similar, in Bulgaria and the EU. The free TMview database covers the EU offices in one search. Similar is enough to block you: names that look or sound alike, for related goods or services.
- Check that the name is distinctive. Descriptive words — like the “Farmshop” on the sign above, for a shop selling farm produce — cannot be registered on their own, because every competitor must stay free to use them.
- Check company names and domains too. They do not decide the outcome, but a conflict there is often the first sign of a dispute.
Step 2: choose the classes
Goods and services are grouped into the 45 classes of the Nice Classification. Protection covers only what you list, so the list should match what you sell now and plan to sell soon — but not much more: a mark not used for five years for the goods listed can be challenged for non-use.
Step 3: Bulgaria or the EU?
| Bulgarian Patent Office | EUIPO | |
|---|---|---|
| Territory | Bulgaria | All EU member states |
| Official fees | EUR 265.87 for up to three classes, EUR 15.34 for each further class, EUR 25.56 for the certificate | EUR 850 for one class, EUR 50 for the second, EUR 150 for each further class (online filing) |
| Opposition period | Three months from publication | Three months from publication |
| Watch out for | — | An earlier right in any single EU country can block the whole application |
| Best for | A business focused on Bulgaria | A business selling in several EU countries |
Fees are those published by the two offices; check the current tariffs when you file. For countries outside the EU, the Madrid system lets you extend a Bulgarian or EU mark through a single international application to WIPO.
Step 4: examination, publication, opposition
Examination
The office checks the formalities and whether the mark can be registered at all — for example, that it is not descriptive or misleading.
Publication
The application is published, and for three months the owners of earlier rights can oppose it.
Registration
If no one opposes, or the opposition fails, the mark is registered. In Bulgaria the certificate is issued once the certificate fee is paid.
After registration
- Use the mark as registered, for the goods and services listed. Five years of non-use make it vulnerable.
- Watch for similar applications and oppose within the three-month window — far cheaper than a lawsuit later.
- Renew every ten years. In Bulgaria the renewal fee is EUR 153.38 for up to three classes.
- Use the ® symbol only once the mark is registered.
Questions clients ask
Can I file before my company is set up?
Yes. A founder can file in their own name and later assign the mark to the company; the assignment is recorded with the office. Filing early is usually better than waiting for incorporation — see our guide to registering a Bulgarian company.
Should I register the name or the logo?
Ideally both, as separate marks. A word mark protects the name in any lettering; a figurative mark protects the logo as drawn. If the budget allows only one filing, the word mark usually gives the broader protection.
Someone registered my brand before I did. What can I do?
It depends on timing and on your own rights. You can oppose within three months of publication; seek a declaration of invalidity if the filing was in bad faith or conflicts with your earlier rights, such as an earlier mark or a trade name you were already using; or negotiate a coexistence agreement or a purchase of the mark. Our intellectual property practice handles all three.
This guide is general information about Bulgarian law as it stood on the date of publication. It is not legal advice for your specific case. Unfamiliar terms are explained in our glossary.
