Small Business Reading Room

Monday, December 06, 2004

What's in a Name?

We have been helping a lot of clients with name conflicts lately. The State of Delaware has been creating thousands of companies every year for a long time, and sometimes it feels like we have used up all the good names.

Rest assured that this is not the case. Delaware deletes many companies from the database every year either because they actively shut down, or because they fail to pay their franchise taxes. Others go off the rolls because of mergers and acquisitions.

I will begin, with this post, an examination of what goes into the choice of company name.

The name of your company will be its first impression.
It will convey meaning beyond the mere words you select.
Your name is valuable property that may be registered at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
A company announces to the world that it is a separate entity from its' owners by having a corporate or other entity designation in the name.

Sometimes a simple or descriptive name is best. If the name is not important to the marketplace, you may use the address of the apartment building you plan to own with the company - 110 Main Street, Unit 4, LLC. Or you may want to dress it up to make the name convey meaning - Rock Solid, Inc. for a stone working company, for example.

There is much to look into, and many ways for you to approach the issue of naming your new entity. More to come in the next few weeks.

posted by Larry at 1:34 PM - permalink 0 comments

Small Business Reading Room

What's in a Name?

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