From Brainstorm to Brand Name: Trademarks and Domain Availability
Part 2: Brand Name Viability with trademarks and domain searches
TLDR: Top 3 Takeaways from this Post:
You should have a few options to work with - trademark searches and domain availability may knock out some of your choices
Checking for competing trademarks is part of your due diligence - it’s not a nice-to-have!
If your domain name isn’t available, you may be able to purchase it from the current owner. Stay positive!
Steps Two & Three: Name Viability with trademark and domain searches
Every business and product starts with a name. Choosing the right brand name is more than a creative activity – it’s a strategic process and investment that leaves a lasting impression and has long-term implications for your business. You want to live with this name for a long while – so once that brainstorming process has wrapped, let’s make sure you end up with a name that you can actually use.
Changing names is incredibly expensive and a lot of things can go wrong, so the naming process is as serious as it gets.
Whether you are launching a startup, rebranding your business, or brainstorming a new product identity, I’m here to guide you through the process.
The typical brand or product naming cycle covers four key areas:
The brainstorm. Generate a list of names to work with.
Viability: Navigate domain names and search potential.
Practicalities: Understands the basic intricacies of trademarking.
Making the final decision: The crucial step in launching your brand’s identity.
Once the name is chosen, the next chapter begins. The name will trigger a new workstream for the post-naming brand implementation that can include everything from designing your logo to launching your product.
We covered the brainstorm process here. Now let’s talk about viability and the practicalities of choosing the name. Avoid falling in love with a particular name before you’ve gone through this process – the trademark search has left plenty of branders investing in their Plan B or Plan C names.
Nandita Sahni, Director of Marketing at Via, had this to say about getting your timing right, “I love this info! I often see things named internally based on functionality, and the opportunity to differentiate and brand a product gets missed. It helps so much when teams can sit down well before the product goes to market and be really intentional about the product’s name. Being proactive about naming has the potential to make a big commercial impact.”
Steps Two & Three: Trademarks and Domain Names
Let’s start with trademarks, service marks, and registered trademarks.
Trademarks, service marks, and registered trademarks are all forms of intellectual property protection, they serve slightly different purposes, and they apply to different types of goods and services.
Trademark : A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. Trademarks are typically associated with tangible goods, like clothing, electronics, or food products. For example, the Nike swoosh symbol and the Coca-Cola name and logo are trademarks.
Service Mark: A service mark is like a trademark, but it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a physical product. Service marks protect services rather than goods. For example, the phrase "Just Do It" for Nike's advertising campaign is a service mark because it's associated with the marketing and promotion of Nike's products.
Registered Trademark: A registered trademark is a trademark or service mark that has been officially registered with the appropriate government authority, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark provides additional legal protections and benefits, including the exclusive right to use the mark in connection with the specified goods or services within the jurisdiction where it's registered. It also provides a legal presumption of ownership and the ability to bring a lawsuit in federal court if someone infringes on the mark.
Should you go through the trouble of trademarking your brand?
Consider these benefits as you decide if you are going to protect your brand, and remember that this is the reason you should do a trademark search before locking in your brand – someone else may already have protections on the very brand name you are most excited about.
Legal Protection & Recourse: Registering your trademark provides legal protection for your brand's identity, name, logo, slogan, or any other distinctive elements associated with your business.
Prevention of Brand Dilution: Trademark registration helps prevent brand dilution, which occurs when the value or distinctiveness of a brand is diminished by the unauthorized use of similar marks by others. By securing exclusive rights to your brand's identity, you can maintain its uniqueness and integrity in the marketplace.
Asset Protection: A registered trademark is a valuable intellectual property asset that can appreciate in value over time. It can be licensed, franchised, or sold, providing additional revenue streams for your business.
Overall, trademarking your brand helps safeguard your brand's identity, reputation, and market position, while also providing legal recourse against unauthorized use by competitors or counterfeiters. It's an essential step in building and protecting the value of your business.
You can search the US Patent and Trademark Office’s database for existing registered trademarks here: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/search/search-information. You will see results for the same or similar names, including their status (registered, abandoned, pending, or canceled.) Other countries have similar databases, if you plan to operate internationally.
It’s never a bad idea to hire a trademark attorney who can conduct a more thorough search and provide legal advice on the availability of your chosen name. I’ve been surprised more than once to find a name was locked down and protected by another organization. I recommend that you establish a relationship with a trademark attorney at the onset of your naming journey. Ideally you can provide them with 5-10 name options, which will be narrowed down through trademark searches before moving onto the domain search.
It all comes down to the URL, right? Let’s look at Domain Names.
If you aren’t on the web, your business doesn’t exist. Parallel to conducting your trademark due diligence, you will explore your options for a domain name.
Like the brand name, the characteristics of an excellent domain name are that it’s memorable, short, easy to spell, and has a logical extension. Oh – and of course, available.
You can buy a domain name from a domain registrar. GoDaddy is one of the largest domain registrars and my usual starting point. Feel free to shop around, though! Other registrars sometimes have lower costs or other worthwhile features.
To .com or not to .com In a perfect world, your domain name will have all the characteristics above, and be available as a .com. .Com domains are the most recognized and trusted extension, and people are more likely to default to .com when typing the web address.
Of course, there are many alternatives to .com: .net, .org, .info, .biz, .name, .pro, .mobi. .gov, .edu, .us, .biz, .ai., .sucks, .xyz, .site, .life, .me, .cloud. .live, .shop, .club, .store, .art, .app, .io, .services, .world, .fun, .aw, .tv.
Ummm. Please don’t use a .sucks domain. Seriously.
If your .com isn’t available, you will have a choice to make:
Go back to the drawing board and revisit your brainstorming step – A great name with a terrible url is not what you need as you launch your brand!
Negotiate with the entity that owns the domain name and purchase the right to use it. Many domain names are purchased but unused because the owners have made a business of buying and selling domain names. Registrars can contact domain owners and broker a sale, giving you the right to use it. The cost for that domain will be quite variable, ranging from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Adjust the brand name to match a domain that is available by getting creative with spelling or the url. For example, we shifted from Copius to Kopius in one branding initiative. You can also adjust your url to help to tell your brand story. For example, if you want to open a play destination for kids called Kid Spark, www.kidspark.com isn’t available, but www.visitkidspark.com is. You’ll need to help your customers remember your alternative spelling and domain as part of your marketing effort.
Use an alternative extension but proceed with caution. Is the company that is using the .com similar to your business? If so, your marketing will likely send traffic to their site when people mistype your url. Is the extension hard to remember or does it cheapen your brand? Alternative extensions can work, but be careful, please!
Make it Official
Once you’ve made it over the trademarking and domain hurdles, purchase the domain name and set it for perpetual renewal. The last thing you want is for someone to snatch your domain name because you let the renewal lapse. It’s common for businesses to purchase similar domain names or extensions in order to protect their brand identity’s uniqueness. You are not required to purchase the similar domain names, but it’s worth evaluating the cost to do so.
@Sumitha Nathan of Spark Catalyst also shares this tip, “In addition to reserving the domain on godaddy or similar, one should also secure the same name in other social media platforms like X, Threads, LinkedIn, and Instagram to maintain consistency.”
You may not have your social media strategy fully dialed in at the time that you secure your name, but you’ll launch social in short order, so it’s better to be prepared.
In the next post, I’ll write about the fun part: making the final decision and launching your brand name. Get ready to pop the champagne.
