Name/Brand & Trademark Flashcards
Can I change my company name?
Yes. A significant percentage of companies change their name at least once early on in their journey. Famous examples of name changes include: The Facebook → Facebook, UberCab → Uber, and Airbedandbreakfast → Airbnb. Many companies also change their name entirely.
Different states have different requirements for name changes. If your company is incorporated in Delaware, then you will need to fill out different forms for a name change depending on the type of your company. These different forms can be found on this website. To change the name of an LLC, for instance, you are required to pay a base of $200 in filing fees and file this form with the State of Delaware. For a non-stock corporation, you are required to pay a base of $194 in filing fees and file this form with the State of Delaware. Regardless of the type of company, the name change amendment requires board consent.
While you can fill out these forms yourself, this is also something an attorney can assist with, and should take no more than a couple hours of their time.
Domains, Handles, Etc.
Hopefully “YourCompanyName.com” is available for cheap—if so, jump on it!
If not, there are a few paths forward:
Buy it if the cost-benefit is worth it. Usually founders who have raised ~$500,000 will try to spend no more than $10,000 on a “.com” domain.
Consider .io, .ai, .us, or another → these are gaining in popularity “.com” is losing its importance.
Use another domain for now with plans to buy “YourCompanyName.com” when you have more money.
Handles on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc. should be reserved as soon as possible, since they do not cost anything. If your desired name is already taken, you can always add “real,” “official,” “company,” or similar words to the page name or handle.
How do I trademark the company name? How much does it cost?
To trademark your company’s name, you first need to decide if you want to file your name under state law, federal law, or both.
Registering your trademark under state law creates rights in that state only. Your trademark is not protected if you expand your business into another state where your trademark is not registered. In that case, you will need to either register your trademark in that state or apply for federal registration. Not all states have trademark registration databases, which means that third parties will not be aware of your rights in that trademark.
Registering your trademark under federal law creates rights throughout the entire US and its territories. The US federal government also has a trademark registration database. Only companies that are dealing with interstate commerce qualify for federal trademark registration.
For protection under federal law, you need to file your name with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). You can decide between two options when filing for a trademark: the TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard.
The TEAS Plus option has more requirements up-front when you submit your initial application, but has a lower fee of $250 per class of goods/services. The TEAS Standard option has fewer requirements up-front. However, you must eventually meet all the application requirements and pay a higher fee of $350 per class of goods/services. You can choose yourself to file under either option using this link.
For filing your name under state law, you will need to fulfill different requirements depending on each state.
Filing for a trademark usually costs between $500 to $2,500. In addition to the different filing options, the cost of trademarking also depends on the number of classes of goods and services in which you are applying for protection, whether the government returns your application with comments requiring response and amendment, and whether you choose to file yourself or hire a law firm to file.
Legal fees usually fall between $1,000 and 2,000 and are often well worth it. Experienced trademark attorneys have the technical expertise to do searches to determine available company names, or potentially conflicting trademarks. Additionally, if the USPTO or state government comes back with comments that include case law and legal arguments, you will most likely need a law firm to respond.
When should I trademark the company name?
It is uncommon for founders to trademark their company name before they have closed early funding from angels/VCs, have launched their product, and are fairly certain that their name will not change.
Considerations:
Have we raised enough money (~$500,000) such that trademarking is a relatively small cost?
Are we a consumer company, where it is more important to build and protect our brand early on, or an enterprise company, where it is less important?
Are we a consumer company, where it is more important to build and protect our brand early on, or an enterprise company, where it is less important?
Do we have market traction; are we getting “out in the wild”?
