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1992-04-30
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@046 CHAP ZZ
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SELECTING A TRADE NAME │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Choosing the right name for your business can be a very important
ingredient in the success of your operation, since it can affect the
image you project, favorably or adversely. For the typical small
business, it will usually be wise to pick a name that helps to describe
the product or service to be provided. Otherwise, picking a "cute" or
whimsical name may cost you many potential customers if they fail to
realize what you do when they see your signs, advertising, etc. For
example, if you call your restaurant "The Comestible Emporium," a lot
of hungry (and semi-literate) people will probably drive right by
without realizing that you serve food.
On the other hand, it is advisable, from the standpoint of protecting
your business's name as a "trademark" or "service mark" (such as Coca-
Cola) under federal or state law, to adopt a name that is also partly
arbitrary or nondescriptive, in conjunction with a name that is des-
criptive of the services or goods provided. An example would be the
"21 Club Restaurant." The reason for selecting a name that is partly
whimsical or arbitrary is that trademarks or service marks that are
merely descriptive of the goods or services cannot be legally protected
from use by others unless you can prove that the name has taken on a
secondary meaning, which is very difficult to establish for a new,
small business.
After you have tentatively decided upon a name for your business, you
or your attorney should find out whether the same name, or a confusing-
ly similar name, has already been pre-empted by someone else. This
usually will involve starting with the state's secretary of state, to
find out whether the name is already being used in the state by a local
corporation or out-of-state corporation that has qualified to do busi-
ness in the state. Next, you should inquire with the county clerk of
each county where you will do business, where state law requires filing
or registration of trade names (fictitious business names), to see if
another business is already using the same or a confusingly similar
name in the county and has filed a fictitious or assumed name state-
ment. Or you may consult a firm that specializes in checking on use
of trade names or marks, or, as a last resort, check the yellow pages
(and white pages) of the appropriate phone directories. If someone has
already been using the name you want to use, you may have to choose a
different name to do business under.