3 Steps When Creating A New Brand
I just came up with a new brand name for a new service that I'm offering and I'm going to walk you through the 3 things that I did to protect it and make sure that it was mine.
And pay special attention to the order that I did those things in.
Step 1 - Search for the Name
The first thing that I did for my brand new brand name is search the United States Patent and Trademark Office to see if it had been used before. And not just "I'm going to search for the exact name that I'm looking at," but any variations of the name used in connection with any service that's similar to the services that I'll be offering under that brand name.
Along with that I also searched the Internet for any unregistered uses. Because remember, in the United States, the first person to use a brand name is the one who really has rights to that name. That's the person who has first dibs on that name. It's not the first person to register. So it's important to look at both.
Step 2 - Purchase domain(s) for the Brand Name
Once I knew that nobody else was using it, I went to GoDaddy. There are a bunch of different ways to purchase a domain name, but I went and I purchased the domain name, thelegalapothecary.com, from GoDaddy. I also purchased .net and a couple of other ones just to make sure that they were mine, nobody else can use them.
Step 3 - Secure Your Social Handles
The third thing that I did was go on to Instagram and reserve that social handle. This is not a trademark purpose per se, but it does make sure that that handle is mine and that nobody else can use it.
Bonus Step - Applied to Register the Trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office
I also applied to register the trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. So those are three things that I did and the order in which I did them. First I searched to make sure that the name was available and that no one else was using something similar and that I could register it. Then I went and got the domain name because I don't want to spend money on the domain name before I make sure that I can use an own trademark. And then I went to social media and got that social media handle. And then that bonus fourth one,I filed my trademark with the trademark office. I hope that helps. And I'll see you next time.