Company Name Availability Checker: Austria, Belgium and Netherlands Guide

Austria: Checking Names in the Firmenbuch

The Firmenbuch and How It Works

Austria's official company register is the Firmenbuch, maintained by the Austrian courts (Landesgerichte) and accessible publicly at firmenbuch.at and through the federal court portal at justizonline.gv.at. The Firmenbuch is searchable by company name, registration number (FN number), and registered seat.

Name Distinctness Rules in Austria

Austrian commercial law (Unternehmensgesetzbuch, UGB) requires that a Firma (company name) must:

• Be clearly distinguishable from other firms registered in the same regional court district
• Not be misleading as to the nature of the business
• Not contain certain protected terms (e.g., "Bank," "Versicherung," "Österreich") without regulatory approval

The Handelsgericht Wien (Vienna Commercial Court) and regional Landesgerichte review each application. A name that is merely visually or phonetically similar to an existing entry in the same district will be rejected. Adding generic words like "Online," "Digital," or "Services" to an existing name is usually insufficient to establish distinctness.

Required Legal Form Suffixes

How to Search: Step by Step

1. Go to firmenbuch.at and select "Firmensuche"
2. Enter the proposed name in the search field — try partial name searches (e.g., "Nexus") to catch all variants
3. Filter by Bundesland (state) and Rechtsform (legal form) if needed
4. Review all results, including dissolved companies — some courts flag dissolved names as unavailable for a period
5. Contact your notary to confirm distinctness based on your specific proposed name

Registration Costs and Timeline

• Notary fee: €500–1,500 (regulated by Notartarifsgesetz, based on share capital)
• Court registration fee: approximately €360 for a GmbH
• Publication in Wiener Zeitung (now online): included
• Total timeline: 1–3 weeks from notary appointment to Firmenbuch entry

Belgium: Checking Names via the CBE/KBO

The CBE/KBO Database

Belgium's Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE in English; KBO in Dutch, BCE in French) is the central register for all Belgian companies. It is publicly searchable at kbo.economie.fgov.be (Dutch/French bilingual interface).

Name Rules in Belgium

Belgian company law does not impose strict geographic distinctness requirements the way Austria does. The CBE/KBO will accept a name that is phonetically or visually similar to an existing one, as long as the applicant and an existing company have signed an agreement permitting shared use (extremely rare) or the names are not identical. In practice, a notary will check for conflicts and may refuse to authenticate articles using a problematic name.

Belgium also has specific rules for bilingual entities in Brussels: the name must be presented in both French and Dutch, or be language-neutral (e.g., an acronym or invented word).

Required Legal Form Suffixes

Note: The old BVBA (Besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) was phased out with the Belgian Companies and Associations Code of 2019. Existing BVBAs automatically became BVs.

How to Search: Step by Step

1. Go to kbo.economie.fgov.be and select "Search" (Zoeken / Recherche)
2. Search by name under the "Enterprise" tab — partial searches work
3. Also search under "Establishment units" to catch trading names that differ from the legal entity name
4. Note the enterprise number (10-digit Belgian company number starting with 0 or 1) for any conflicts
5. Have your notary run an additional check through the internal notary network before filing

Registration Costs and Timeline

• Notary fee: €800–1,500 (BV), €1,500–3,000+ (NV)
• CBE registration: approximately €90
• Total timeline: same day to 1 week (BV can be incorporated in a single notary appointment)

Netherlands: Checking Names via the KVK

The KVK Handelsregister

The Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce) maintains the Netherlands' business register. Public search is available at kvk.nl/zoeken — no login required for basic name and registration number searches.

Name Distinctness Rules in the Netherlands

The KVK does not apply strict distinctness requirements. The same or similar names can coexist in the register if owned by different entities, unless: the names are identical, the entities operate in the same sector in the same market, and consumer confusion would result — in which case civil courts apply unfair competition law (Handelsnaamwet, the Trade Name Act). The KVK itself will flag exact name matches during registration, but near-identical names are registered regularly.

This means that a KVK name search is a necessary but not sufficient clearance check. You should also check for existing trade names (handelsnamen) under the Handelsnaamwet and for any relevant trademarks.

Required Legal Form Suffixes

How to Search: Step by Step

1. Go to kvk.nl/zoeken
2. Enter the proposed name in the search bar — the KVK search is broad and returns phonetically similar results
3. Filter by legal form (rechtsvorm) if needed
4. For each result, check the SBI activity code to assess whether the existing entity operates in your sector
5. Confirm with your notary before filing the deed of incorporation (oprichtingsakte)

Registration Costs and Timeline

• Notary fee: €500–1,200 (online notaries can offer €400–700 for standard BVs)
• KVK registration fee: €52.65 (2025 rate)
• Total timeline: 1–5 business days from notary deed to KVK entry

Comparison at a Glance

Before booking a notary appointment in any of these three countries, confirm that your proposed name is available and clears all distinctness thresholds. Use the EU Biz Tools Business Name Checker to run a preliminary cross-register check, then take the result to your notary as a starting point for the formal clearance process.