How to choose a great brand name or a trademark for your business

How to choose a great brand name or a trademark for your business

Table of Contents

The purpose of this article is to help you understand:

  • What is a good brand name or a good trademark and its characteristics
  • What is not a good brand name or trademark and why?
  • Mistakes to avoid when choosing a brand name
  • Types of brand name
  • The process to select a good brand name
  • How to confirm that the name you have selected is a good brand name / trademark 

Book Title: “How to select a world-class Brand Name or Logo for My Business”

A step-by-step guideline for creating and defending your Business Identity with effective Trademarks

Author: Prasad Karhad

Link for the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CS1XC8P6

“How to select a world-class Brand Name or Logo for My Business: A Step-by-step guideline for Creating and Defending Your Business Identity with Effective Trademarks”

This book is a comprehensive guideline that is specially designed for business owners and entrepreneurs to answer one and only one question…

“How can I create a winning brand for my business that will protect my goodwill, enhance my brand value and will eventually become the most valuable asset of my business?”

Have you ever thought about these questions:

  • How can I create a brand name that truly resonates with my target audience?
  • What goes into designing a logo that is both unique and effective?
  • How do I navigate the complexities of trademark laws?
  • How can I avoid the common mistakes in branding and logo selection?
  • What are the legal and ethical considerations I need to know to protect my brand?
  • What strategies can I use to defend my brand against infringement?

These aren’t just questions; they are the barriers between you and your brand’s success.

This book is born out of a deep understanding of these very questions, frustrations, and challenges that you, as a business owner, marketer, or entrepreneur, face in your journey to find out a distinct and legally sound identity in the marketplace.

This workbook on brands, logos, and trademarks is the outcome of facing more than 12,000 calls, emails, meetings and visits with inventors and entrepreneurs. Leveraging over 15+ years of experience in the field of intellectual property rights and having helped more than 1800 clients, we have come up with this book with a particular focus on solving the most common questions, frustrations and pain points faced by business owners while selecting a world-class brand identity that project right image of their business.

Link for the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CS1XC8P6

How to choose a great brand name or a trademark for your business

An incredible brand name isn’t simply something that looks cool on your business card or is enjoyable to say. Also, it isn’t incredible because you like it.

It’s extraordinary because it conveys something to clients.

The main ability of a great brand name or a trademark is its ability to differentiate the maker of the product or service.

Your name is an augmentation of your image, and it can build up the worth you give or distance you from it. While you’re fostering a name for a business, an item or help, you have various choices. It’s vital to conclude what your name ought to mean and address. For instance, if you’re maintaining an organization that gives business naming administrations, your name is an example of your work – it ought to be perfect, right?

It appears to be clear. Who would have no desire to stick out? Yet, a few organizations are so worried about acquiring believability in their field, frequently those in monetary administrations or counselling, that they will forfeit a tense or enticing name.

how to select a great brand name

Let’s dive into the in-depth study behind choosing the right “Brand Name”:

In the realm of brands, the advantages of a decent name are a large number: clients are bound to like it and recall it, and in this way likewise get it. There are even studies that show basic and short brand names perform better for a business.

There are twelve distinct ways of sorting brand names. In truth, I don’t know how helpful they are (all things considered, they give next to no significant data), yet I’m including them down underneath for individuals who need to have a jargon to portray brand names with.

  • Descriptive Names
  • Name of Founders
  • Self Invented Names
  • Metaphorical Names
  • Modern or Intriguing Names

A brand name is important and adaptable. Logos, images, words, and even tones can be reserved. The main distinction is that the brand name can’t influence the great within reach. For instance, you were unable to reserve colored glasses because the color straightforwardly influences the item.

There are three potential brand name classifications concerning protected innovation:

  1. Nonexclusive Terms– These ordinarily can’t be reserved because they don’t give the buyer a particular thought. In any case, terms can become inseparable from one another for brand names, like tissue and Kleenex.
  2. Inconsistent and Fanciful Terms– These are the best kinds to reserve since they have an undeniable differentiation from different items.
  3. Interesting Terms– These are the center-ground of a brand name. They appreciate more assurance than conventional terms yet are not exactly whimsical.

Before we move further, let’s first try to understand,

Why do we need a great brand name

Your business is, without a doubt, going to require a site. What’s more, for that you will require a space name, which is your site’s location on the web. If conceivable, you need your image’s name and your space name to be comparative, if not indistinguishable. Inconvenience is, that there isn’t a lot of decision left among the .coms, or .co.uks except if you’re ready to purchase the one you need from the ongoing proprietor.

At the point when you source a web have, they will want to assist you with getting the right space for your image and to get the more modest, less popular areas that are indispensable to safeguarding your image’s personality. So you could have the .com for example, yet in addition need the .net, the .co, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. You get different advantages from your host also remember; for instance, Domain Names accompany free email addresses and a one-page site.

This is the kind of thing that you will construct your whole image around, so it is basic to get the right name. Facebook was initially called thefacebook before it moved off college grounds and into the more extensive world. When your business is solidly settled, even though you can change a brand name, it’s challenging to change your image name without placing a major scratch in your organization’s standing.

A noteworthy, infectious or captivating name catches the consideration of clients and makes them need to study you. It makes your organization stand out. A forgettable one however can see you covered among the pack. Initial feelings count all things considered.

how to choose the right brand name

1. Utilizeclear, unmistakable, simple to-recall words

Indeed, you believe clients should recall your name effectively, yet that doesn’t mean you ought to utilize any abnormal word to acquire consideration. It’s vital to ensure your image name will not send blended messages — or some unacceptable message through and through.

All things being equal, use words that can be effectively associated with your item or administration, the mission your organization represents, and what clients can anticipate from your image.

2. Avoid the trendy expressions

Involving in vogue new words in your image name is one method for making it noteworthy. It’s particularly useful in collecting consideration and premium from a more youthful objective market. The issue with building your personality on a pattern is that it’s that — a pattern.

Patterns travel every which way, so it doesn’t necessarily seem OK as long as possible. What checks out for recent college grads today probably won’t seem OK for the more youthful age tomorrow, so it’s feasible for your image to lose importance. Attempt to pick brand names that you can characterize and that will endure for the long haul — and save the stylish dialect for convenient showcasing efforts all things being equal.

3. Ensure the name can be persisted to your logo, trademarks and slogans

Brand consistency is basic to development, and everything begins with your image name. The name ought to look and sound perfect close to the remainder of your marking: logos, slogans, trademarks, and so forth.

To place these tips into point of view, you can take motivation from the accompanying fruitful brands and their slogans

4. Accumulate thoughts and conceptualize with your accomplices to shape a rundown of potential names

Before anything else, it’s ideal to meet with your colleagues about the name of your image. Together you can toss in thoughts, words and expressions that could ultimately frame your image name.

Try to think of however many names as could be expected under the circumstances, show them generally down, and gradually tick away the terrible ones until you are left with the best up-and-comers. As you do such, observe the extra tips recorded underneath.

5. Ensure it’s exceptional

The last issue you need to confront is a brand name suit, so before focusing wholeheartedly on a brand name, examine to see whether different brands are now utilizing it.

If you get a precise match, there could in any case be some space for error. For instance, is the business in a similar industry or area? Regardless of whether it isn’t, we suggested tweaking your image name (adding initials or area, for instance) to keep away from disarray.

As you’re thinking about brand names, verify whether the space name is accessible. Assuming your group has their heart set on a specific name, you might have the option to buy the freedoms to the space from the proprietor, yet see whether that is plausible before finishing the choice. Nobody needs an invalid terrible name as a component of their image.

Procedure and ideas for selecting a good brand name for your business

Here is no magic or formula for finding a good brand name. Generally, a good brand name must have meaningful, easy to remember, unique, accessible, protect-able, visuals, etc. So, in this section, I write 5 step process to find a great brand name for your business.

Step 1: Determine your Brand’s Value
It’s imperative that you identify as clearly as possible, as soon as possible, who the perfect customer for your brand’s products or services will be.
You first need to figure out who you are and what you aspect from the business before determining brand value.
Keep in mind that

  • How can you describe yourself?
  • Why does your business exist?
  • Why do you do what you do?
  • How are you led to behave?

Before designing a brand, these are the essential questions you should consider.

Step 2: Look at your Differentiation or Target market

Developing a name for your business starts with knowing what sets it apart. Always make sure your company’s name sounds natural to the ears of your potential customers. To do that, you must learn about your niche market.
It can be helpful at this stage to conduct an application scenario. That’s when you create a narrative to explain a hypothetical day in the life of your potential customer. Product descriptions should include the customer’s struggle and how the product solved it.

Step 3: Brainstorm

At that time you need to be creative and brainstorm all of the different aspects related to your business, and service. You need to make a list of all brand names in which you can find a great one

  • Keep your brand name simple:- As a startup founder, business owner and entrepreneur,, you must find a simple, easy to use, easy to remember, and short brand name.
  •  Use word association:- You can write down many words that represent you or your business and start a simple word association game to find a perfect match.
  • Use online tools: There are many free tools available that help to find lots of unique brand names.
  • Use foreign language words: You might also use foreign language words to make your brand name effective, crazy, fun, and easy.
  • Choose a type of Brand Name: After this section, I write 10 types of brand names on which you can choose one brand name type to find the perfect one.

Step 4: Check Availability of Brand Name
If you have shortlisted some names that sound right, it is important to check that they are not already in use by another company. Make sure another business does not already trademark them and that a suitably memorable domain name is available. In order to do this, you will

  1. Use a domain name search from one of the major providers, such as GoDaddy. You may wish to use a site called Rebrandly for finding an appropriate domain for your marketing campaigns if you intend to include branded links, You can search by industry. This is a fast and simple way to verify if someone else is using your brand name ideas. You should also do a simple Google search, just to be safe.
  2. Seek out Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that share the same or a similar name.
  3.  Ensure that the startup names you’re considering aren’t trademarked. you can conduct a trademark search or maybe use a website like Name check.

Step 5: Testing
Make sure that you test your shortlist of potential company names to see which one will best please your target market. For example, if you have customers for another product, you could survey them using social media or other means. If you are just starting out, you may conduct testing it between friends, colleagues, and family. It is a part of your market research.

What is not considered a good trademark and why

  • Brand names that don’t have an unmistakable person. This just implies that the brand names that can’t recognize the labour and products of one individual from that of another can’t be enrolled. The entire reason for brand name regulation is to empower differentiation between brands. No imprint that detracts from this reason can be enrolled.
  • Brand names that depict the great or administration and give the shopper a thought regarding the quality, amount or geographic beginning of the specific great or administration. Graphic brand names can’t be enrolled.
  • Marks that have become standard in the ongoing language. For instance, a customer connects an eatery with a cook. Aside from this denotes that is underhanded, hurt strict feelings, are foul or depict the state of the great can’t be enrolled.
  • Well-known Brand names: Brand names that individuals know about can’t be enrolled regardless of whether the products are not comparable as this would influence the standing of the individual who possesses the notable brand name.

Mistakes to avoid: while selecting a good brand name or trademark

1. You Haven’t Researched Competitor Names

Numerous organizations don’t understand the force of memorability and will have practically a similar definite name as another business, particularly in a similar industry. The name ought to be imaginative and vital, separates you from the pack, and can sum up what the organization does.

2. You’re Overthinking Your Name

Here is the thing with organization names: individuals generally overthink them. Your name doesn’t give your organization esteem. It works the reverse way around — your organization (and individuals’ impression of it) gives your name esteem. Your image is a lot greater than a name (or a logo, or a textual style, or a variety, so far as that is concerned). Try not to cause your name to do the hard work — it’s just a single little strategic articulation of your image.

3. You Haven’t Tested Your Name With Your Target Audience

Naming an organization might be perhaps the main vital choice an organization will make. When you have the name (or names) you are thinking about, make the additional stride and test it to ensure it conveys the picture you need and it reverberates accurately. Furthermore, ensure that the objective can undoubtedly articulate the name; this will wipe out market disarray.

4. You Failed To Do A Trademark Search

Perhaps the most terrible thing that can happen to another business is that the proprietors invest energy and cash advancing a specific name, just to figure out another person has been utilizing it. Regardless of whether they haven’t enrolled a brand name, somebody could claim the freedoms basically because they were utilizing it first. A fast Google search is a flat-out must and you might need to enhance it with an expert brand name search.

5. Target Audience Can’t Tell What You Do

The most widely recognized blunder I find in the imaginative space is getting excessively imaginative with your name. You shouldn’t need to think “I can’t help thinking about what this organization does… ” when you hear its name. The name ought to straightforwardly or in a roundabout way sign individuals into the kinds of administrations or items you give.

6. You’re Following A Short Term Trend

Give a valiant effort to choose a name that will remain pertinent for quite a long time. Many expressions are infectious, so they get abused and get irritating inside a couple of years. Organizations can impact patterns, yet they don’t have unlimited authority over them. Drifts regularly foster a relationship with specific gatherings or generalizations, however, those generalizations don’t necessarily cover your expected interest group.

7. You Haven’t Considered Branding And Timing

While the business name is significant, what makes the biggest difference is the picture you make around that name. Regardless of whether a name is seen well for the most part relies upon the discernment of the executives in the initial six to a year. Moreover, a business name is rarely firmly established and can be changed, so if you are trusting that the right name will enter your thoughts, don’t. It’s smarter to begin now than pause and lose force.

Things to avoid while choosing a trademark

Selecting a trademark is an important decision that could affect how successful your company is. Here are some mistakes to avoid. With trademark law constantly evolving,

  • Not doing an adequate investigation as to whether there is a trademark that is very similar in sound and appearance to yours or is misleading.
  • Trademarks are hard to speak, understand, identify, and adaptable.
  • Failing to conduct regular searches with appropriate search engines and databases to ensure that no one else has registered a trademark on something similar since your initial search.
  •  Assuming that only words can be protected as trademarks—this isn’t true at all! You can also register logos, sounds smells and even colors as trademarks if they are distinctive enough
  • Using someone else’s trademark without their permission – unless you have been granted express permission by them to do so, using someone else’s mark will cause confusion among consumers who may think that you are affiliated with them in some way or another.
  •  Avoid using the surname of a popular family. for Example: Kapoor, kumar’s, Jains
  • Choosing a trademark that is descriptive of what your product does rather than selecting something more unique and original;
  • Avoid selecting a trademark that is registered in a foreign country by someone else. for Example: “John Deere”,” Banana Republic”, “Target”
  • Avoid the use of Geographical names, as nobody has exclusive rights over them. “Banaras Silk” to sell sarees, Jodhpuri suit to sell suit

Conclusion:

  • knowing characteristics of a great brand name or a great trademark
  • and knowing why it is important to register a trademark for your business name
  • finalize a list of brand name for your business and conduct search as mentioned above to shorten the list
  • give shortlisted brand names, trademarks for conducting a free trademark search. that checks the availability of brand name and objections that can be raised if any.
  • proceed with trademark filing procedure for the final selected brand name from above process.

Always remember a brand name isn’t simply the name of an item or help from your business, but a resource with character and worth that your business will be based on. For any business, it’s the principal piece of correspondence for any crowd – nonexclusive or explicit. This is the reason showing up at the best brand name is a broad cycle. All the more so in our current reality where another item is sent off consistently, a business ought to have an exceptional brand name.

Prasad Karhad
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