Useful Ways To Ensure The Availability Of Your New Product Name

An exciting and challenging part of launching a new product is naming it. The name of a product can play an important role in its success or failure. Thoughtfully named products tend to do a lot better than items of similar design and quality that have had the naming process rushed. Unless you have had previous experience in naming commercial products, the process will likely intimidate you; it doesn’t need to, however. Naming a product can be very easy. The first thing you need to do after coming up with a name is to ensure its availability. Here is how you can do that:

Trademark Screening

When you want to name a product, the first step is to make sure nobody else has used the same name before. If they have, they may have trademarked it. A trademark screening service will be able to carry out the checks necessary in order to determine whether or not it is in use. If it is you will not legally be able to use it. Going ahead and using a trademarked name anyway can have severe legal consequences. Using somebody else’s trademark can be enough for them to take you to court.

Trademark lawsuits can result in huge amounts of compensation being paid out to claimants. All of the profits your business has earned could in theory be awarded to the person whose trademark you have infringed. However, it should be noted that such a judgment is incredibly unlikely. It is only really likely if your product is similar to the other person’s and you have been marketing yours as theirs. It is definitely worth hiring a professional service to run a trademark check for you, so you can rule out using somebody else’s name. The legal consequences are simply not worth passing your product off as someone else’s.

Individual Searches

While it is definitely a good idea to employ a screening service to conduct trademark searches for you, you can do them yourself. You won’t have access to the same databases that professional services do, however. The fact you are unable to access the same databases as them means you will not be able to conduct a thorough search. You can still use search engines to find information about items with similar names to the one you have chosen for yours though.

Just because you find something with the same name as yours listed for sale online does not for a second mean it’s trademarked and that you can’t use it. It also needs to be noted that you may come across old products no longer for sale that has the same name as yours. If this is the case you should be safe to go ahead with your choice of name, as long as it is not a product in the same niche as the one that previously used the name in the past. Check these things before naming items.

Asking Permission

If you do end up coming across a product that has the same name as yours but is no longer in production, track down the trademark’s owner and ask for their permission. For a fee, they might consider selling you their trademark or relinquishing ownership over it. A screening service should have no trouble tracking down a trademark’s owner. You may have difficulty finding a trademark holder yourself with just the name of a product and no real identifying information, especially if the product is no longer being made or sold and the manufacturing company has ceased trading.

If you are planning on asking a trademark holder for permission to use the name of their product, it’s best to be as polite as you can be. As they hold the trademark they have total control over it. Should they decide not to allow you to use it there is nothing you can do, legally or otherwise. In some places, trademarks and copyrights expire, so you may be able to wait for the expiry date and then get it yourself, but who knows when that will be?

Trademarking Name

If the name that you are interested in using has not been trademarked then the first thing you should do upon discovery of this is to trademark it yourself. Unless you act fast and trademark your product’s name you could end up missing out. You never know when somebody else is going to come up with the same name as you. If somebody else does, and they decide to use it, again, you have no legal recourse for claiming it. The first person to trademark a name is the owner, that’s that. Move fast once you have found a name that you like and want.

Making Certain

It can’t be stressed enough: Once you have found a name that you like you need to make sure that it is not trademarked or copyrighted.  Using somebody else’s name is no joke – you can get into a lot of legal trouble. Copying somebody else’s name intentionally or otherwise could damage your reputation too. The litigation that will ensue upon the trademark’s holder realizing that you are using their name will put your product’s name in the media for the wrong reasons. Many businesses end up being sued for bankruptcy, depending on the amount of time they have been trading under somebody else’s trademark.

Being Original

Originality is the best way to avoid using a name that somebody else has already used. Sadly, originality is not something that a lot of people strive for. Instead of using common names or gimmicky ones, think up names for your products that are unique and unheard of. Once you have found a name, again, check it hasn’t already been taken or used by anybody else. Originality is the best thing to strive for in business as it sets you ahead of everybody else, considering that the vast majority of people are very unoriginal. Also an original name will make it easier to find you online. 

Choosing a name for your product can be very difficult; choosing one that hasn’t already been used can be even more so. Once a name has been selected and you are happy with it, run a check with a screening service. Ensure nobody else is using or has used it.