I am looking to start my own business. I would like to use the name “Tree of Life Studio”. I looked this up online, and someone is also using this name for their bus. I am doing a completely different type of bus., in a different state. Can I legally use this name and does a person have the right to this name exclusively? Is this name copyrighted or trademarked?
Important caveat to start out: I’m not a lawyer so everything I say is based on my understanding of the law but might be horribly wrong. Grab that grain of salt, just in case…
Having said that, I think that it should be obvious that there are only a finite number of possible business names and so it’s impossible not to have collisions in the namespace. For example, I bet you have a “China Wok” or “China Gourmet” or similar in your town, even though I know of other, unaffiliated restaurants with those names in my own home neighborhood.
That’s why your business needs to file a public “DBA” — or doing business as — notice, so that you publicize your intended use of a specific word or phrase as your business name. Before you do that, however, your first step should always be to check the Patent and Trademark Office to see if your desired name is trademarked. If it is, you can’t use it. A “tm” or “registered tm” trumps everything else, which is the point of trademarking things in the first place.
At the USPTO, you can use TESS (the Trademark Electronic Search System) to dig around and find about possible competitors. I searched for “Tree of Life” and found 66 matches. A search for “tree of life studio”, however, produced zero results, so that’s a good thing.
In these modern times, the next thing to do is to check Google. Do a search for the company name in quotes and see what you find: “tree of life studio” produces almost a thousand pages that contain that exact phrase.
They’re from different sites throughout the world, so ostensibly you can rest knowing that if there aren’t any matches in your local phonebook you can do find locally, but the wrinkle here is that you probably do want to have an online presence of some sort, even if it’s just a one page Web site. That being the case, are people going to find you if they search for “tree of life studio”, or one of the others that are already online?
That’s pragmatic, not legal, of course. Legally if there’s no trademark confusion and if you aren’t using a name that’s already registered with your state’s attorney general as a fictitious name, you’re probably in the clear. However, even in this situation, do remember that you need to actively protect your rights, so if someone else were to claim the name in another town in your state, you might have to pursue them for bringing confusion to the market and if you didn’t and they later opened up a branch in your town, well, you might be the one having to change, even if you have actually had your name longer.
This is one reason why people like to use their own names in their business names, so perhaps something like Leroy’s Tree Of Life Studio could work better. It would help brand you, a good business strategy, and it would make your name far more unique. Next time you’re driving around, pay close attention to the names of the different companies you see. Subtract the franchise operations and you might be surprised at how many have woven their name or the name of the town into the business name.
Good luck with this. Even given the complications I’m outlining, it’s true that there’s a lot of benefit to a well-named business, and a poor name can really prove to be a liability. A good business name always is both evocative and a reminder of the service or product offered. That’s why I think something like “Cheesecake Factory” or “Jiffy Lube” are wonderful demonstrations of the concept.
I am the legendary radio disc jockey Spider Harrison and have been inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. the ceremony will be held May 2, 2015 in Nashville/Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Currently, I am on the air in Nashville. I can be heard on WHPY-FM 94.5, http://www.hippieradio945.com (10a-3p CST) Monday thru Friday. I have proof of first usage in commerce and have the active trademark name Spider Harrison, entertainment services that covers on going radio programs, entertainment, music show broadcast over radio and internet. Changing the spelling to sound like Spider (i to y) is still an infringement if the infringement continues regardless of any remedy or court ruling in any previous case, according to the United States constitutional law. Trademarks are valid in the United States of America. Great article and thank you.
Thanks for stopping by, Spider. Interesting to hear about your case too.
Thank you for posting this article. I have had a big problem with when I do any business name search because of there are many businesses that have similar names. How do you think I can better my searches to avoid this problem? It would make a lot more sense if the businesses continued to be more creative.
Hi
I have business name as roveradventure and also website known as http://www.roveradventure.com and the thing is that some one else has opened new website as roveradventure.co.in in same place. and my business name has been registered two years back. pl what kind of steps i can take pl suggest me.
krisna.nevar
I obtained a fictitious business name in November of ’09. I searched the corporations to be sure that the name was not being used in my state. Come to find out that there IS a business with the name in the same county. They did a fictitious filing of the name, but had put the word “the” at the end of the name rather than the beginning (example: New York Times, The). Then, they incorporated months after I obtained the name (with “the” in the correct word order) with the county clerk. Now they are telling me that I have to change the name since they had the name first. It is so frustrating since I did everything I was supposed to but since this moron listed the business name in mixed order, I’m in a mess.
You can use what ever business name you want. The real thing to find out is if the company is registered in the state. You should review the Secretary of State’s website and do name searches there. If you are really wanting to start a business with a solid name, make sure you can put it on website first. No point in having a name if people can’t search you online without finding the name already used. Another point to consider – use a couple names when you develop a domain name (i.e. singular and plural). People could be trying to go to Joes.com, but they might type Joe.com as well.
I really enjoyed your article and I can’t wait to read some more. It might take a while though there’s so many to choose from. (lol)