๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ก๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฝ.
Youโd never know it by sheer volume of advice, but one of the most important legal decisions facing founders doesnโt have anything to do with capital structure, dilution or corporate law generally. Instead, it comes under the category of trademark law and is the question of what to call this precious new entity youโve just formed.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ?
Your company name is your brand, signifier to the world of the source of your products and metaphysical container for your reputation. And, at a practical level, itโs how the world will (or will not) find you through search engines and app stores. So, picking a name that you can use and protect widely, without hassle, is critical for a new company.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ?
A good name is a unique name โ a word you make up yourself. Think โAtlassianโ or โGoogle.โ
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐?
The arena for brand names has never been more crowded or more global, which means itโs harder than ever to find words you can register as a domain or protect as a trademark. If you coin your own name, you dramatically increase the likelihood of snagging the .com and, importantly, achieving U.S. and foreign trademark registrations.
๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ.
Choosing an existing word is tempting and, of course, seems to have worked fine for “Amazon,โ โAppleโ and “Snowflake.” But we now have one global marketplace and way more companies out there seeking to use the same words for brand purposes. Run a quick search and see for yourself. (And, as a general rule of thumb, consider that the largest companies in the world may have access to resources not yet available to you.)
๐โ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ โ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐?
Search it. Check Google, app stores, a domain registry and the US Patent and Trademark Office (https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk). What youโre looking for here is . . . nothing. Big, glorious nothing. If you do get hits, ask your trademark lawyer to help assess whether what youโre seeing is noise or could present a problem down the road.
๐๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ?
Yes! โBontermsโ is an invented word โ a play on the French word for good and โterms.โ The domain was available and weโve achieved U.S. (and growing list of foreign) registrations on our name, corporate logo and Standard Agreements stamp logo. (The U.S. registration is why we can now use the circled R symbol).
๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ?
Yes, of course. Trademark is a highly specialized area of law, your mark is a core asset and trying to โfix it laterโ can be incredibly painful.
H/tย Jeremy van Cleefย for logo design andย Nate Garhartย for counsel and registrations.
