Product Naming - Owning A Name: Trademarks, URLs and Beyond

Owning A Name: Trademarks, URLs and Beyond

A consideration companies find important in developing a product name is its "trademarkability." Product name trademarks may be established in a number of ways:

• In many countries, including the United States, names can be used as trademarks without formal registration through first use or common law—simply to protect an established product’s name and reputation.
• Product names can be formally registered within a state, with protection limited to that state’s borders.
• In the United States, a federal trademark registration is filed with the USPTO and offered protection for as long as the mark is in use.
• The preeminent system for registering international trademarks in multiple jurisdictions is the Madrid system.

In addition, protecting a trademark is just as important as the initial process of registration. Trademark rights are maintained through actual use of the trademark, and will diminish over time if a trademark is not actively used.

Companies need to consider whether they can own a name in the digital realm. Owning a dotcom is critical for some companies, as is owning a brand name on Facebook, Twitter, and other types of sites. In modern communication, the trademark is just the start of owning a name.