Choose The Right Trademark
One challenge facing any start-up is what to call itself, or its store front. When it comes to building goodwill (i.e. your trademark) there is a tradeoff. The respective pros and cons include:
1. Generic terms are of little value if you intend to distinguish yourself from your competitors. If you sell flowers - florist is not a trademark, it is what you are. Of course, if you can get a generic term + .com, you are in business.
2. Using a name that describes your product or service is a little better. The more descriptive the name of your company or product, the easier it is for customers to understand what you do. The downside, however, is that your name will be given little legal protection. The idea is that you cannot exclude competitors from using words which describe their products or services. Thus, a descriptive trademark can take years of use before it is viewed as strong trademark.
3. Creating a fanciful name. XEROX, YAHOO, KINKOS and a host of other terms are very strong trademarks because they are fanciful. You have no idea when you originally hear the name what product or service is being sold. The downside, of course, is that you will probably have to spend piles of money teaching potential customers what you do.
4. The best solution for many companies is to pick a mark which is suggestive. Suggestive marks are protectable because they do no directly describe the product or service. However, they benefit from the fact that a small leap needs to be made from the name to the product or service. Whatever name you choose, you should also take reasonable steps to strengthen your trademark. Add TM after the mark and use the mark in all caps or in its stylized form when possible. For example, if you have followed the WordPerfect - one word, multiple caps - craze, use the mark in that style whenever used. If you use the mark in regular case and font, it will appear that mark may be merely descriptive or even generic.
Also, consider filing a trademark registration application. Once the mark is registered, you will have a much better position against any potential infringer. This includes large companies with similar names that later decide they want to move into your field. Down the road, a trademark registration can save many times its cost.
1. Generic terms are of little value if you intend to distinguish yourself from your competitors. If you sell flowers - florist is not a trademark, it is what you are. Of course, if you can get a generic term + .com, you are in business.
2. Using a name that describes your product or service is a little better. The more descriptive the name of your company or product, the easier it is for customers to understand what you do. The downside, however, is that your name will be given little legal protection. The idea is that you cannot exclude competitors from using words which describe their products or services. Thus, a descriptive trademark can take years of use before it is viewed as strong trademark.
3. Creating a fanciful name. XEROX, YAHOO, KINKOS and a host of other terms are very strong trademarks because they are fanciful. You have no idea when you originally hear the name what product or service is being sold. The downside, of course, is that you will probably have to spend piles of money teaching potential customers what you do.
4. The best solution for many companies is to pick a mark which is suggestive. Suggestive marks are protectable because they do no directly describe the product or service. However, they benefit from the fact that a small leap needs to be made from the name to the product or service. Whatever name you choose, you should also take reasonable steps to strengthen your trademark. Add TM after the mark and use the mark in all caps or in its stylized form when possible. For example, if you have followed the WordPerfect - one word, multiple caps - craze, use the mark in that style whenever used. If you use the mark in regular case and font, it will appear that mark may be merely descriptive or even generic.
Also, consider filing a trademark registration application. Once the mark is registered, you will have a much better position against any potential infringer. This includes large companies with similar names that later decide they want to move into your field. Down the road, a trademark registration can save many times its cost.
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