Hi Reader!

As I mentioned on Wednesday, in the updated second edition of Legal Roadmap for Your Creative Business, I completely re-vamped the chapter on doing a trademark search.

I did this because this year, the USPTO revealed a brand-new tool to search the USPTO database, and there were some fancy new options that made it even easier to pick a business (or product/service) name that won’t land you in legal hot water.

​You can see all 4000+ words in the updated comprehensive guide to searching for a business name.​

This guide is designed to help you pick a name from the onset that won’t ever land you in legal hot water.

But what if you’ve already launched your business, product, or service?

Many creative business owners start their businesses without even realizing it. They have a creative outlet, an opportunity to collaborate, or a personal project. And it ends up turning into a business.

This is why a couple of times a year, I have to tell a client she has to re-brand her business.

• Sometimes because a creative project or hobby turned into a business.
• Sometimes because she didn’t realize the importance of a trademark search.
• Sometimes because she wanted to capitalize on a trend.

If you name your business (or product/service) something too close to someone else’s trademark, you'll find out sooner or later. (Usually, in the form of a nasty lawyer-drafted cease and desist letter.)

And when it happens, you’ll have to re-brand. You'll have to start over from scratch. You'll have to rebuild brand recognition, business goodwill, and pretty much everything.

This is why it's critical to do the proper research ASAP.

Because even if the URL or social media accounts are available, it doesn't mean it's okay to use.

In pre-Internet days, most businesses were local, so this research wasn't as critical. But these days, the first thing you do is get your business online. And you make sure that Google can find you. You don’t just sell your products locally, but sell your products across the United States (and sometimes outside the United States).

This means another business owner with a similar name can easily find you too. And when they do, they’ll likely either send you an email asking you to change your name (or if they are a bigger company, immediately sic their lawyers on you.)

This guide is here to make sure your creative business doesn’t waste time, resources, or goodwill because you picked a name that is too similar to someone else.

Ready to dive in and pick a name that’s on the legal up and up? Read the full guide here.​

It covers:

• when your name is eligible for a trademark
• who else you’ll be able to stop from using a similar name
• why it’s important to take the time to do a proper search
• the four steps to picking a legit business name
• my step-by-step process, including:
  • how to search the USPTO database
  • how to narrow and review your results
  • how (and why) to search a domain name database
  • how (and why) to do an internet search

​Head here to read the full guide.​

I'll be sitting at my computer until about 9:30 AM Pacific and I'd love to your questions about picking a legit business name. (And if you are reading this after then, please reply! I'll get back to you ASAP.)

Chat soon,

P.S. As you can see from the guide, doing a trademark search is a labor of love! Since your to-do list is already long enough the last thing you probably want is to spend hours digging through databases to see if your business name is legally safe. Instead of adding another headache to your list, let me take care of it. Don’t risk rebranding later—let’s check your name now.

❤️ Easy to understand legal resources should be available to every creative, regardless of their financial situation. If one of my resources has helped you and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here. ❤️