Katy Perry.   Olivia Wilde.  Elton John.

What do all of these celebrities have in common?

Well, they’ve all changed their names.

• Katy Perry was born as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson.
• Olivia Wilde was born as Olivia Jane Cockburn.
• And Elton John was born as Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

When celebrities change their name, what they are really doing is re-branding.  

Maybe their old name was dull, or maybe it was already used by another famous person.  When they select their new name, they want to make sure that it provides the right image or meaning, and....that it’s not already taken.  

Similarly, when you choose a trademark, you are choosing one of the most important aspects of your brand.  You want to make sure it conveys the right image or meaning for your brand.  In trademark law, we call that “commercial impression”.  Ask yourself, what will the average consumer think when they see your trademark?

You also want to make sure that nobody is already using the trademark!

Here are some key considerations.

Number 1. You want to consider how strong you want your trademark protection to be.

Video 4’s “The Five Types of Trademarks”, teaches you about the strength of different types of trademarks, including fanciful, arbitrary, suggestive, descriptive and generic.  Fanciful trademarks are words that are made up and have no meaning, like KODAK.

Fanciful marks have the strongest form of protection for trademarks.  So, if I am looking for the strongest form of trademark protection, I might consider a trademark that would be considered fanciful.

Number 2. You’ll want to make sure your trademark is not already being used.

Some ways to do this include Googling your trademark, and searching for your trademark on the federal trademark register at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

You can review the video on doing a basic self-search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s database for similar trademarks that are registered or pending.

Number 3. You’ll want to consider conducting consumer studies

It is very easy for small business owners to get tunnel vision about their trademarks.  But we sometimes fall in love too quickly with our first thoughts on trademarks.

You should be asking consumers, potential consumers, and strangers, what they really think of the trademark. This doesn’t have to be an overly complicated process, but you should get comfortable getting honest feedback from people.

Number 4. You’ll want to think about the future of your brand.

A trademark is a long-term decision.  Maybe you’re only selling shirts right now.  But your goal might be developing a much larger empire of selling luggage, jewelry, and household accessories.

You should be thinking about both your short-term goals of trademark protection, and how this fits into your potential expansions and future portfolios.  Is the trademark you are considering something that could be applied to all of your future goods and services?  Or would the trademark only work for some of your goods and services?

Number 5. You’ll want to consider domain name availability.

So much of our business is done online.  You should consider whether the .com is available for your trademark, and consider even buying other extensions, like .net.  You want to avoid cyber squatters pouncing on other extensions.

As you can see, picking a trademark is an important business, legal, and personal decision for your brand.