I want to start a business. How do I find out concerning a business name and if it's ok to use one.?

Question

I don't want to use someone else's name and get in trouble.

Answer 1

Generally businesses have to register with the state they are in. The state will have a database of businesses, and you could find from that if your name conflicts with another. Unless it's a large corporation though you aren't likely to run into troubles with the name because smaller businesses don't have the time and money to dispute it, and if they aren't in the same area as you probably don't care.

Try checking out your state's website and see if they have a searchable database.

Answer 2

I listed some links where you can do some preliminary name checking. However, please be aware that this is merely scratching the surface of what's out there.

Only comprehensive research will tell you if the name is truly available. But, these links are free & a great place to start, so I'd try them out first.

Comprehensive research consists of looking at marks that are similar in Sound, Appearance or Meaning in the pending & registered Federal AND State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files.

There are other sites that offer free searching capabilities in conjunction with their commercial services, so I'm not able to post those links due to the Yahoo! TOS. You'll also want to check domain names & yellow pages, so simply do a search for "free domain name search" and "national yellowpages" and the appropriate links will pop up.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!