Posts Tagged ‘name protect’
Protecting Your Company’s Brand Name Online
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
You’ve worked hard to create an identity for your company or products, so why no work just as hard at protecting it? With corporate identity theft on the rise, now is the time to build up a wall of security around your brand-name, in order to keep others from stealing or misusing it.
By having a website, it’s easy for anyone to copy and paste your logo, text, and pictures - using it on their own website to further sales or perpetrate fraud. There have also been plenty of instances of an unscrupulous company using online blogs and forums to pose as customers bashing a competitor’s business.
Luckily, the internet also makes it easy to keep tabs on your brand name and to make sure that it isn’t being misused. Here are some ways you can protect your company and its brand name:
Regularly do an online search for your brand name - Take the time every month or every quarter to do a search on each of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) for your brand name and your company name. Check out any new blog or forum postings or any websites that are talking about your company or brand. If appropriate, respond positively to any negative postings. You may also want to take the time to trace the negative poster’s email address - you just might find that it links back to a competitor! Also, do a separate search under Google images to see if any sites are stealing your logo or pictures for their own use. If you find that your images are being used without your permission, you can contact each website directly and ask them to remove your images.
Watermark your images - If you want to protect the images from your website, put a company watermark down on the lower corner. That will discourage most copiers from stealing your artwork or photography.
Protect your text - Because copying and pasting is so easy, lots of people do it without any regard for copyright laws. You can protect your website text by having your webmaster disable the right-click function on your webpage. Of course, seasoned web surfers know there are ways around this, but for 99% of your website visitors, this will be enough to stop any would be copyright infringers.
Look at your suppliers, vendors’, clients’, and retailers’ websites - Oftentimes, it’s the companies closest to you that end up misusing your brand name. You might enter one of your retailers’ websites to find that they’ve taken it upon themselves to say they are the only factory-authorized retailer of your brand in the U.S., when in fact they are not. Or, you may find your logo and a made-up quote from you hyping up a vendor’s services. Make checking the websites of the companies you deal with something that happens on a regular basis.
It doesn’t take much time or effort to take back control of your brand name but, unfortunately, most companies never take the time to put such measures into place until it’s too late. Both personal and corporate identity theft is on the rise and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon, so the most important thing you can do for your brand name is to protect it.
Tags: brand name, Carrie Hinkel, E-Commerce and E-Business, Marketing, name protect, Web Design
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Effective Strategies for Naming Your Business
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
The word or words you choose for the name of your business can sometimes make or break a company. Many times, when choosing a store, business or product a customer only has a company name to help them decide which one to pick. Most likely, you’ve been in that situation yourself. It’s doubtful you would choose Candy’s Law Services or Grampa Joe’s Spa, if given other choices.
Ideally, your name should be simple, distinctive and reflect your business image. For instance, if you are a high-end clothing store your name should be able to convey that upscale image. Your business name is what potential customers will be basing their first impression on. If the name turns them off, they may decide to take their business elsewhere.
Should you do the naming yourself?
If you’re on a tight budget, then yes. Just be sure to 1) get feedback from potential customers and 2) check to make sure you are not infringing on an existing trademark name. Now, if you have some extra money for business start-up costs, then hiring a professional naming company is typically money well spent. Naming consultants use time-tested, proven strategies for coming up with the perfect name for your company. However, naming companies don’t come cheap so be prepared to spend upwards of $1,000. The upside is you’ll come away knowing your name was thoroughly researched, tested and developed - giving you piece of mind.
Tips for choosing the best name for your business
Reinforce your company’s impression - Whether that’s upscale, bargain, friendly, intelligent, funny or comforting, your name should convey that image to the customer.
Make your name memorable - A distinctive name will not only allow for high-level trademark protection, but it will also help stand out to customers. Typical (and forgettable) names are those with person’s names (Janet’s Hair Supply or Mackenzie’s Auto Parts), geographic terms (Eastend Pet Supply) and overly descriptive names (Leather Shoe Repair). Remember, the goal is to separate yourself from the competition.
Keep your name simple - Creative is good, crazy is bad. Too many words, combinations of letters and numbers and words that are hard to spell or pronounce are all common mistakes made when naming a business. Your name should be easy to remember and pleasing to both the ear and the eye; something customers can easily remember and repeat.
Avoid silly or trendy names - Unless your business is a joke, then your name shouldn’t be. What’s funny today will inevitably become annoying and stale a year from now. Anything cutesy like Wreck-O-Mend or trendy like Records Palooza might seem clever at the time, but they will eventually turn run their course, leaving customers to question the quality of your business.
How to check if your name is already taken
Search engines - By entering your proposed business name on Google, you can quickly do a search for the business name you want to use and see if anyone is using it. However, it’s important not to end your search there if you come up empty, you’ll need to do a more thorough search-see below.
State trademark registers - A great place to look if you are a local business. By checking your state’s trademark registers, you can see if a business in your state is using a particular trademarked name. Just go to the secretary of state website and you should find a link to the trademark registers there.
Federal government website - Here you can check the corporate, LLC, or partnership name or service or trademark for the business name you want to use and to see if it’s already in use by any other company. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a free online service called TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System).
Professional trademark search - If you would prefer to hand the trademark search over to a professional, there are a plenty of companies that will do a thorough search for you, such as Legalzoom.com and Name Protect .
Choosing a business name may not be rocket science, but it takes a lot of thought, research, brainstorming and outsider feedback to come up with the right name. It shouldn’t be taken lightly or decided in just a couple of hours. Your company name is the first thing your potential customers will see or hear and, therefore, it is an important way to distinguish your company from the rest.
Tags: Carrie Hinkel, legalzoom.com, name protect, naming your business, Starting a Business, Trademark Electronic Search System
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