When I started the soap biz 7 years ago, I arrived at the trade show with sales materials that boasted our name, "Good Clean Fun". Unfortunately, within 20 minutes of setting up I found out that the name had already been trademarked by another bath products company for one of their lines. They had faxed me a demand letter and approached me in the booth to give me the bad news. I collected myself quickly, apologized for my mistake and told them that I would drop the name immediately. Luckily, I had not sold any products under that name, or they would have the rights to that money. It was a rookie mistake, but I was happy to learn the lesson early, before it cost me a lot more.
Two days later, as we were standing in that booth, my sister noticed that the first thing that people said when they walked in was, "What fun!" (I'm not exaggerating, it was like clock-work) Not wanting to learn a lesson twice, Kevin and I made a trip to the US Patent and Trademark Office (don't be too impressed, it was 45 minutes from our house) to make sure we were in the clear. Later on, we trademarked the shape of the soap, thanks to a particularly (and might I dare say, unusually) creative trademark attorney.
- Be broad but specific! I know it's a paradox, but try to find a name that tells what you do, and leaves you enough room to expand later on.
- Create intrigue. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked what "What Fun!" does. Starting that dialogue can lead to interesting things.
- Do a search Before you get attached to a name, use a search engine, domain name registrar and uspto.gov to check if someone else is using that name.
- Protect your name. Even if you don't think you're going to have a web site, register the name (and combinations like it) so you have the option, and no one else does.
Have you learned any lessons about choosing a name?
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