IT'S ALL IN THE NAME !

As soon as you uncover your Great Idea, give it a name. Why? Because your Great Idea is an important part of you and is therefore worthy of being named.

As you begin to commercialize your Great Idea, select an easy to remember, catchy name.

Here are five CRITICAL steps in selecting the name. [WARNING — Do not become too attached to the name until it successfully passes through the following Five Step Process.]

Step One
Choose a clever name to serve as a Trademark or Service Mark for your product or service !

Put on your thinking cap and come up with several names for your Great Idea. The name you finally select will be the Trademark or Service Mark by which your idea will be known. A Trademark identifies the supplier of a product; a Service Mark identifies the source of a service. In the following discussion, the word Trademark will refer to both Trademarks and Service Marks.

A Trademark has two parts. The first part is a unique name that identifies the source of the product or service. The second part describes the product or service and is not unique. [Example: STARBUCKS coffee].

The four considerations in choosing the Trademark for you product or services are:

1. The Trademark must be unique enough to distinguish it from Trademarks of others;
2. The more distinctive the Trademark, the easier to prevent someone else from using a similar Trademark;
3. The Trademark can be suggestive where mental steps are required to figure out what is being suggested. [NETSCAPE is suggestive of software which allows traversing the "landscape" of the Internet.]
4. ALERT — Common words are usually not protected. These include: names of places (California pizza); names of people (Jimmy's ice cream: Smith's shoes); Descriptive (Digital computers); Laudatory words (The GREATEST Coffee); and alternative spellings (Lite beer).

Step Two
Determine if the name is available in your state ?

Your next step is to determine if your selected name(s) can be registered as a Trademark in the state where you plan to do business. A state trademark registration can prevent another person from using your Trademark in that state, is inexpensive and is easy to obtain. You can inquire at the Secretary of State's offices as to whether your chosen Trademark is available. If you uncover a registration of your proposed trademark, you should select a new name.

Step Three
Determine if the name is available as a Domain Name ?

Your selection of a trademark that can also serve as a domain name is very important. Most companies want a domain name that is the same as or similar to the company's business or product name, e.g., Sears.com for the Sears department store. All domain names are on the internet at www.Register.com. If the domain name you want is already registered, you can choose another domain name.

WARNING — Even if your chosen domain name is available, you still have to check whether it would violate some else's trademark.

Step Four
Determine if the name is available as a Trademark ?

To determine whether the Trademark you chose is legally available, do a Trademark search for any registered or unregistered marks that are: a) the same or similar to your proposed mark; b) used anywhere in the United States; and c) likely result in customer confusion with your proposed Trademark.

A Trademark search is important because if someone else is using the same or a confusingly similar Trademark for the same goods or services as yours, they can force you to change your Trademark and possibly make you pay for their damages. Also, if you are planning to apply for Federal Trademark registration, you will save a lot of time and money if you discover that your proposed Trademark is already registered for similar goods and services.

While you may ultimately want a professional Trademark Search, you can do a search using free resources found on the internet.

To begin, search the federal trademark register for Trademarks that are the same as or very similar to yours by just logging onto the free Trademark database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Here you will find a list of all federally registered Trademarks and Service Marks and all pending Trademarks and Service Marks. The USPTO website is easy to use.

Because Trademark ownership is based on who uses the mark first, it is important to search for unregistered Trademarks and Service Marks in actual use. This is called a "common law search," and can be done on-line with an Internet search engine such as Google.

The search just described is a starting point. If you are planning to use your Trademark in an expensive advertising campaign or throughout the United States, it is advisable to have a comprehensive search by a professional search firm and an analysis of the search by a Trademark Attorney. NOTE — No matter how thorough the search, there is always a possibility that someone else began using your Trademark first.

Step Five
Register your Trademark !

Once your Trademark has cleared the previous four steps, take ACTion. If a more comprehensive search is needed, go to a Trademark Attorney. If not, buy the chosen domain name and create an internet site and use the Trademark on the site. Register the Trademark with your state agency. File a federal trademark application with the USPTO.

Your Trademarks and Service Marks are valuable assets, and they need to be protected.