Of the many sites offering advice for aspiring entrepreneurs—including the venerable SBA—very few mention branding as a startup cost. Almost none advise new business owners to factor the cost of naming into their expenses. Maybe the authors of these pages believe that entrepreneurs can simply name their business by themselves.
But the the truth is, the days of easily creating a brand name—a name that links to an appealing brand promise or differentiator, uses natural words that customers can understand, and is available to trademark—are long over.
Many entrepreneurs create a name then jump into business with no regard to the possibility that they may be infringing on someone else’s trademark. And in reality, many businesses do co-exist with the same name, and many trademark owners fail to protect their mark. Perhaps it’s just too costly and time-consuming to do so, especially if your business name is one that’s easy for others to think up. ” (I feel sorry for the trademark owners of cliched names like “Cornerstone” and “Pinnacle.”)
But there’s another reason why entrepreneurs should do their due diligence and trademark their business name—because it helps them make more money.
Our friends at Trademark Bob highlighted a study in their blog today that entrepreneurs should pay close attention to.
The study found that a trademark filing is highly correlated with the ultimate success of an early entrepreneurship activity including employment and revenue growth. Firms that do not apply for a trademark registration in their initial years are unlikely to do so unless they experience employment growth. However, difference-in-differences analysis suggests sizable treatment effects, with firms making a trademark filing having substantially higher employment and greater revenue in the period following the first trademark filing.
You can read the whole study here.
It pays to trademark your name. Pollywog can help you create a name for your startup that’s custom-tailored to your offering, scores well on our 17-point evaluation and has a high likelihood for trademark registration.
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