I’ve discussed the Ins and outs of choosing a Brandable and befitting business name for start-ups on many occasions.
However, there are some important areas that are often neglected.
Today, it’s a pleasure to iron them out and make clarifications on how to make decisions while choosing our company’s name.
Should you go for acronyms and abbreviations?
What do BHK, XTZ and 3PRO4 actually stand for?
Abbreviations are critical. As a newcomer to the market in particular, it is difficult to make an abbreviation or acronyms known.
It is often impossible to create a meaningful connection to the activity of the business with few alphabets.
Even when the acronym or abbreviation can be pronounced, it’s not advisable since you would have to spend thousands of dollars on marketing to get public awareness on what your brand is about.
At the same time, it is worthwhile to reconsider your company name with abbreviations if it’s Brandable and catchy and you feel it would represent your company well, says businesspally boss.
What are the limits of your business name selection?
You are not entirely free when it comes to naming your company. Because depending on the legal form of your company, additional designations must be included.
In the case of registered companies such as an AG , Techpally or UG , the respective legal form must always be appended to the company name.
You can almost freely choose the name itself but ensure it’s not already registered with the corporate affairs commission of your country.
In the case of a partnership, at least the surname of a partner must also be included in the company name.
In the case of a GbR, the first and last name must be included in the company name; in the case of an OHG, the surname is enough.
According to business pally magazine, companies that are not entered in the commercial register are not a company name, but a business name.
This must always consist of the proper name. So if you are self-employed, you have to include your first and last name in the business name.
Whoever works as a freelancer, at least your last name should be included, chaktty advised young entrepreneurs.
Apart from the proper names and the legal form, other designations can of course be added.
How sure are you that your business name is not Registered?
When choosing a name, it is very important to make sure from the start that no existing trademark rights are infringed or that the name is misleading, chaktty advised.
There are some terms such as B. Institute, international or organic, which are almost always prohibited.
These terms are protected and may therefore only be used if they actually apply.
If a name is already protected, this or a very similar one may not be used a second time.
So always check your ideas at an early stage in order to avoid expensive property rights lawsuits, Techpally business advisor reiterates.
In addition to the possible costs of a lawsuit, the name change itself is associated with high costs, so you should avoid name change or re-branding later from the onset.
Remember, that any change you make to your business name would have to reflect in all your submitted documents to the corporate affairs commission and it always attract fees.
In your early research, you can quickly find out yourself via Google whether your desired name has already been taken.
Nevertheless, you should definitely carry out further research at the US Patent and Trademark Office), as well as in the commercial register.
