Trademark/Company name advice

PostTrademark/Company name advice by **1cmanny1** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:52 am

If I wanted to start a business in NZ, but there was an identical small business in USA with a website that had the same name, would I run into any problems? I mean there are no businesses or trademarks registered with that name in NZ, so I would be good right?

It's about competition isn't it? If your markets don't overlap, and you don't sell the same product, then there isn't a problem. They can't actually do anything unless they have a trademark recognised by international trade mark law. Which I don't understand.

Bands have a similar thing, where they go to the US and there is a band with the same name, they have to change their name on their records or they get sued.

Think of a different/better name.

You also have a search optimisation problem. It's much easier if you're name is unique to not get confused.

So when can I order some magic beans?

Last edited by 1cmanny1 on Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[iup=3509953]Green Gecko[/iup] wrote:You also have a search optimisation problem. It's much easier if you're name is unique to not get confused.

Yes this really is the other main issue I was thinking about. Although since it is in a different country (and by no means a large business), ours should pop up first for nzers. It isn't the perfect scenario though, do you sacrifice an easy to remember name to be unique? I don't know, while you are starting off you want to be memorable.

Also Ad7 it is hard thinking of a good name, since someone bastard somewhere would have already thought of it. Plus I am by no means an artist, so I would have a cry about designing another logo.

My self employment business was just my name :lol:

Remember I and a few others on here are designers, someone might help you out in exchange for some of those beans :datass:

[iup=3510034]Ad7[/iup] wrote:My self employment business was just my name

Remember I and a few others on here are designers, someone might help you out in exchange for some of those beans

Lots of people do that, I have been looking at lots of local ads for a while. That doesn't really stand out though does it? Plus I think it would be hard to remember?

You are a designer?! :shock:

Also is magic beans some sexual innuendo?

We both are.

My name is very memorable. Mono syllabic and uncommon helps, not hard to pronounce. Just have to repeat your name a lot.

In many cases, your name is your brand. But it doesn't sound like that sort of sole trading enterprise. You want to look bigger than you are in most cases.

Also think about names like Nintendo, Sony, Ikea, McVities, or even Ferrari. There are loads of massive names that mean nothing to your average person. There is a hell of a lot more to a brand than a name.

What's a Google?

The whole name is designed to be memorable for flyers (I am not thinking of anything bigger at this stage), for example if you were setting up a computer shop, Microsoft, John Wane's Computer Store etc, wouldn't jump out at me, nor be as memorable as something like Nerdy Nuggets etc.

Basically I only have one shot with these flyers. Which is why I need a good name.

The fact that the name is already used by a similar shop in America, with a generic typical looking site, is very annoying though. An easy fix is to put NZ at the end, so http://www.randomNZ.co.nz. This way if they put .com instead of .co.nz they won't go to the silly American store. However if they google Random, they might end up on the wrong page. However as I said, our page should still be on top due to it being more relevant since we are in NZ. So I am probably stressing over nothing, but I really want a good page so I can practice with adwords and the like. I also don't want anyone to think we copied the other guys, which might be an issue if I put it on my CV and an employer looks around.

You will never rank for a generic word like that.

It doesn't matter what your company is called for SEO purposes, unless you sell a particular category of product or it makes sense to reference the industry in the name, but you're correct that having the same name is problematic. You can always use different trading names. It's a problem you can work with.

It is about how many links you have relevant to that word and the profile and popularity of your site in general as well as the relevance of the content. Do not assume that Google will find your site based on your name and nationality alone, especially if it is a phrase already used by other business. Building that up can take years.

You need to be thinking more about the terms potential customers use to find you or making a big deal about the fact you're an NZ or local company as you say so that people will search for something like "name company nz" if they don't know the url. This is about digital marketing strategy including social engineering not just having the perfect name.

Accidental url is also a problem, but only if the business are similar. Branding aside from just the name also addresses this problem as somebody instantly knows whether they are on the Apple website or the Apple corporation website.

It is pretty much a fallacy trying to come up with a unique name these days so concentrate on your home market and these alternative strategies.

Hell there's an art graduate with my exact same name from the South East UK graduating in a similar time frame. I just destroyed him with seo but that doesn't stop people confusing my stuff with his as we both Illustrate.

I don't know too much about SEM and SEO tbh (Apart from ranking web pages for LionBridge and brief research when applying for Digital marketing roles). Because of course a Marketing Degree doesn't go into that at all :fp:

It might be a good learning experience if I have another site I want to beat in the rankings.

I don't think you can have a totally comprehensive marketing strategy when you start up. That's start up paralysis.

You're aware of the digital challenges now. Focus on your home market and cross that bridge when you come to it. Like I said having an original name is a fallacy, and there are strategies to address someone with the same name.

Good luck with your biz venture.

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