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Jamie Monks
@JamieMonks
Built my first website in 2000, building cool tools ever since.
Agency owner @ Pharosify
Solid answer, thanks!
I've been making sure in all cases that the proposed names don't come up with anything of note in Google to avoid the risks above, but that would indeed be an easy trap to fall into, and would suck!
Is there a way to check trademark status globally, or conveniently that you know of?
You're welcome! We don't know what we don't know, so it's always worth mentioning to people. I know I sure didn't know a lot about this stuff, even after almost 10 years freelance writing 😹 I'm a lot more mindful about trademark, copyright, and brand equity issues, though, so I try to keep that top of mind for others.
Also, you bet! Here are my favorite resources to check. There's no real international database (yet -- why not, I don't know!) that's totally comprehensive, so I like to check a few sources.
If it doesn't come up with either of these, you're probably in the clear. I'd consult a lawyer about it, though, just to make sure, once you're ready to take that leap.
Awesome resources, thanks for taking the time to do that!
Also, I've had a personal friend who got trapped in this, except she had created a whole brand but never made it officially legal and someone swooped under her, trademarked the name first, sent my friend a cease & desist, and there was nothing my friend could do. She lost literally everything overnight and had to immediately rebrand.
(I helped her with the PR and rebrand, and we fortunately were able to not only save her audience but grow it BECAUSE the way we told the story strengthened her positioning. But still -- tragic it happened at all.)
People are really out here being shady, and it's not cute.
(This was in the online coaching space and the woman who swooped her brand name was in her community, by the way. It got pretty ugly for a while.)
The biggest piece of advice: Protect yourself and your assets (including intellectual property) at all costs.
I'm still in the phase before my first big success, so having money I don't know what do do with isn't a thing yet :D Good call about the non-zero trade off though!
Just jumped in to reading about RemoteOK, good reference!
I'm at the app-name-decision phase of a would-be project right now, so easy to change, which is what drove the question. I have my original ideas but the .coms are all gone or are premium, but I'm able to be flexible at this stage
I'm not sure what I feel about SEOs state of affairs lately, but this is a good answer! I've learned with my latest site that pre-planning site structure initially is worth it!
Smart strategy might be building a website that's valuable in itself, in case if the original idea doesn't work out. Think of becoming a go-to resource site that you can eventually monetize through sponsorships, affiliate link or info products. Anyway that's my way of thinking behind making any website.
This was my original concern, I feel like not having it may cost credibility should I look to garner significant investment or exit values down the line..
You're right though, just being unused, even if it's $10k and unattainable now, would be a good thing! Maybe that can be where I draw the filter line. Thanks!
Fair comment, maybe I've been worrying about it too much
Thanks, I've been liking the .io for a few, I just didn't want to struggle against an existing (inactive) .com down the line!
Awesome resources, thanks for taking the time to do that!
You're welcome! They're bookmarked for easy access because before I do any brand strategy work for clients, I have them take a few seats while I double-check their brand name, just in case (since most newbies don't think about TM infringement).