Outspring (http://www.outspring.com), makers of the Outspring Mail
email application, has announced Nomina for the iPhone. It allows a
user to enter a potential brand name and search a variety of sources
to see if that name is available for use. Nomina is available for
US$14.99 at the Apple App Store.

Once a potential name has been entered into the program, it will
conduct a search to determine if second level domains are available
(name.com, name.net, name.org) and can optionally check another 25
international domains (like co.uk and .com.fr). The program also will
do a trademark search for the name with the U.S Patent & Trademark
Office to ascertain whether an identical trademark is registered or
pending with that agency.

The program will also conduct a common law search for the name using
The Library of Congress, Google, Thomas Guide, Dun & Bradstreet,
Reuters News Service as well as searching a U.S. Yellow Pages
database. The company claims that Nomina can conduct an entire search
in less than a minute and with a faster internet connection (WiFi or
3G) in as little as 10 seconds.

Once a search is completed, the program creates a graphic report
indicating the availability of a given name. These reports can then
be emailed to colleagues. The program saves all search results in a
recents list between searches.

The company says that you can also "drill down" into the search
results, so if "name.com" is taken, you can tap that entry and see to
whom that domain is registered. Tapping another button will take you
to that website in the iPhone's Safari browser.