To clarify, you are planning to register for a trademark, and you have checked with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) and have found that this name is not registered there. Or, you are wanting to file for your LLC, and you have looked it up and discovered that it not taken. From an online strategy perspective, you may want to consider these factors:
What does the existing website look like on the domain that has your desired URL?
If it is a temporary looking website, with no clear branding, you may want to consider adapting your URL to include a hyphen or an extra word, and moving forward with your concept.
For example: When we were researching names for Tin Shingle, we had a lot of different ideas. We Googled each one of them to see if there were other business using that name. There was not a strong presence, tho www.tinshingle.com was taken. However, www.tinshingle.com with a hyphen was open. Several months after we launched, the owners (squatters) of tinshingle.com offered to sell it to us. We ended up buying it through the registrar and not through them directly because we had no idea who they were. It now forwards to tinshingle.com.
Did you do a Google search on this name?
If there are several other websites that are using this name at least in concept, then while it may not be illegal for you to use this name, you may face brand confusion as others will see these names as well. You will want to stand apart from these simular brands from the get go.
Does the website that is using this URL do the same thing that your business does?
If it does not, if you are totally different, you may be in the clear to brand this name and own it in your online presence.
For example: When I was setting up my domain for Katie James as an accessories design label, my first choice of katiejames.com was taken by a country music singer. A Google search reveald that another Katie James existed in the adult movie world. I went ahead put a hyphen in the name, and purchased katie-james.com, which has reached #1 on Google for the term "katie james" and fights for that position to this day.
Do you have a question in SEO, PR, Business strategies, or any other issue on your mind?
Click here to submit your question.
