The basic mindset while selecting a brand name shall be that “No name is good which cannot be protected”.
It is good to not move ahead with a name that is similar or closely matching with an existing brand name.
Two-way approach while selecting a brand name:
No one should stop you from using the brand name & You should be in a position to stop others from using your brand name Come up with a freaky and crazy name, which is not used by anyone else anywhere. Coined words (mixing of two words) are highly recommended for successful brand recall and trademark registration.
Following are popular brands which chose to be different and no one could ever copy them due to their uniqueness.
- Godaddy – World’s largest domain registrant company
- Google – World’s largest search engine
- Zappos – World’s largest online store for shoes
Following are well known brands which chose to mix up with a generic name of their Industry and chose to be different than usual nouns which do not stand out.
- WalMart – Mart is a generic word in retail Industry, however it is so mixed with the name of the founder that it looks unique.
- Vodafone – The name Vodafone comes from VOice DAta Fone.
- RedBus – this Indian bus ticketing company did it well with the color. It would be wise to listen to your trademark consultants when they say that this name is already gone. 🙂