How to check whether a trademark is available in Serbia

1. Serbian Intellectual Property Office register

The Office's website (zis.gov.rs) has a public trademark search. Enter the name, then its parts and likely misspellings, in both Latin and Cyrillic script. Include pending applications, because they take priority by filing date.

Check the classes of every hit. The same name in class 25 (clothing) and class 43 (restaurants) can usually coexist; the same name in the same or a related class is a problem.

2. TMview: Serbia, the EU and most European offices

TMview (tmview.org) combines the EUIPO register with national registers across Europe, including Serbia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. Search the name with filters by territory and class. This is the first stop if you hold or plan an EU mark and want to see what exists in Serbia.

3. WIPO Global Brand Database: Madrid registrations

The WIPO database (branddb.wipo.int) holds every international registration under the Madrid system and many national ones. It also offers image search for logos. Check whether someone already holds an international registration designating Serbia, which is not always obvious in the domestic view.

What a self-made search cannot do

Databases find identical or similar text. They do not find marks that look different but sound alike, translations, or marks with a similar meaning. They do not assess whether goods are 'similar' in the legal sense, which is the question that decides an opposition. That is why our clearance search runs with a list of variants and related classes, and it is part of the free trademark check.

If the search shows a similar mark, it is not necessarily the end: a coexistence agreement, a narrower list of goods or a different sign may solve it. If it shows nothing, that is a good sign, but the Office can still refuse on other grounds, for example because the sign is descriptive or misleading.

Frequently asked questions