Company Name Ok: Mad Scientist Inc.

[Electro707]

I am creating a company name i could sell my kit under. One name in mind is Mad Scientist Inc. I even have the website for it. I would like to know if this conflicts with other company names. Thanks for reading.

[Twoflower]

The makers at http://www.evilmadscientist.com/ have the evil version of your planned one. Not sure if it's close enough to cause problems.

[edavid]

It will definitely lead to confusion.  I would pick something else.

[jpanhalt]

Check with the Secretary of State in all 50 states.  Or, check with a barely competent attorney to check for you.  My uninformed guess is that you will need something a little more original to get USA copyright.

John

[edavid]

Check with the Secretary of State in all 50 states.  Or, check with a barely competent attorney to check for you.  May uninformed guess is that you will need something a little more original to get USA copyright.

You weren't kidding about uninformed 

https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-forms.html#business

How do I copyright my business name? Which form do I use?

Names, titles, short phrases, and slogans are not copyrightable. You may have protection under the federal trademark laws. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 800-786-9199, for more information. TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or See Circular 34 "Copyright Protection Not Available for Names, Titles, or Short Phrases".

[jpanhalt]

You are asking a question at law.  I do not practice law.  You need to contact an attorney that specializes in copyright and trademark.  Plan on spending at  least $1000 to $2000 for a small, private practice attorney.  For a large firm, like Jones Day, it will be a lot more.  Ultimately, it is  your business  decision.

John

[edavid]

You are asking a question at law.

No, I was just pointing out that it's impossible to copyright a business name.

[Electro707]

So Mad Scientist Inc. is out of the options. Any ideas on a name?

[Halcyon]

What about just madkits.com or similar?

[Electro707]

Kits are not the only think i will be selling/doing. It's just going to be a general electronic company, uless the kits website is a branch of the parent company. Thanks for the name. I am considering it

[Electro707]

How about Dagatol Inc. or Dagatol Industries

[trophosphere]

As already stated by jpanhalt. Since you are in the US, you should register with the secretary of state (go to your state's government website) and use their search system to look up if the business name is taken or not. When you start your business and register it with your state, they will let you know if that name is taken but it is faster and easier to look it up yourself as that will avoid going back and forth.

[EEVblog]

Check with the Secretary of State in all 50 states.  Or, check with a barely competent attorney to check for you.  My uninformed guess is that you will need something a little more original to get USA copyright.

You can't copyright a name, you have to Trademark it.

[Electro707]

Well is it good practice to use a name that could possibly lead to people confusing with the two but both names are not trademarked?

[CatalinaWOW]

Well is it good practice to use a name that could possibly lead to people confusing with the two but both names are not trademarked?

I am not a lawyer, so this advice is not legal advice. 

The closer you get to confusion or conflict the greater opportunity you have to enrich two different sets of lawyers.  Those of the people coming after, and those you hire to defend yourself.

This advice applies whether you are totally justified legally or not.

If enriching lawyers is not one of your life goals I would avoid potential conflict as much as possible.

[edavid]

You should probably look for the domain name first...

[EEVblog]

Well is it good practice to use a name that could possibly lead to people confusing with the two but both names are not trademarked?

Not really good practice, no.
What's in for you to name your company similar to someone else's?
Sometimes there is something like that, you can ride on the coattails of someone else, legally or sometimes not.
Take Batteriser for example. Obviously deliberately playing on Energizer. And they wold have got away with it if they didn't Trademark. But they tried to Trademark it and got their arses handed to them so they had to change it.

You don't know what success waits for you down the track, so having a unique brand name up front can be very important. You will own that brand rather than dilute it with other similar names.

[EEVblog]

Well is it good practice to use a name that could possibly lead to people confusing with the two but both names are not trademarked?

I am not a lawyer, so this advice is not legal advice. 
The closer you get to confusion or conflict the greater opportunity you have to enrich two different sets of lawyers.  Those of the people coming after, and those you hire to defend yourself.
This advice applies whether you are totally justified legally or not.
If enriching lawyers is not one of your life goals I would avoid potential conflict as much as possible.

If anything, it's more important to have a unique brand/company name so that you will always be the top of search results etc.
Just google "Mad Scientist Inc." if you names your company that won't appear in the top 10 google results for maybe years. It's a very bad business move.

[Corporate666]

If anything, it's more important to have a unique brand/company name so that you will always be the top of search results etc.
Just google "Mad Scientist Inc." if you names your company that won't appear in the top 10 google results for maybe years. It's a very bad business move.

+eleventy

It's a lot more important to have a name that doesn't return a bazillion results in Google than it is to have the most amazing catchy unbelievably name anyone has ever heard of.

I'd rather be ZootFunk Labs than the 873rd company named MicroTech Labs, for example.  I always think people spend way too much time doting over their company name early on... better to come up with a name that's unique and somewhat descriptive but generic enough to let you branch out a bit. 

[Red Squirrel]

Google it and different variations.  If something comes up that's close, or even sounds close, you probably can't use it.  IP laws are quite absurd now days.

Once you find something that yields no relevant results on several search engines, then you can do a trademark name search through an attorney so that it's official.  Then trademark it.

Though TBH if this I just a hobby thing I would stop once I found something that yields no relevant results but keep in mind someone can just trademark it after the fact then sue you so you're not 100% safe.   I could be wrong but I think you are allowed to use your own name even if it does conflict with a trademark, but I could be wrong.   A classic case was a guy called Mike Rowe who made a software related site and got sued by Microsoft because Mike Rowe Soft sounds like Microsoft.

Getting a product made is a tiny fraction of the involvement.  It's the IP laws and regulations and all that red tape stuff that will always get you.

[Electro707]

So if i come up with a name, is it best to have goods first then trademark it or trademark it after?

[EEVblog]

So if i come up with a name, is it best to have goods first then trademark it or trademark it after?

It doesn't matter, it's different to patents.
Most small business starting up don't bother to trademark register their name, it's just another expense they can do without. And many names are not trademarkable anyway.
It's not like someone else can come along later, trademark it and then sue you out of existence. You will have trading history using that name so you will be protected.
Not having a Trademark simply means you are not able to defend that name against others using it.

Also, many people are not aware that you don't have to have an actual Trademark pending on your name to put "TM" next to it and claim it as a trademark. In fact it's recommended you do, that way you can show history that you have been and intended to use that name as a trademark. So you can Put TM next to your name and then decide a few years down the track to spend the money to actually Trademark it, at which point you put "R" (for Registered Trademark) next to the name.

NOTE: My knowledge of this comes from Australian Trademark law, but I believe it's the same or similar in the US. My brother in-law is a trademark attorney.

[Rick Law]

But...  even if you don't want to trademark it, a trademark search may still be valuable.  Unless you are willing to risk that you may be using a name that someone else already trademarked.

Some thoughts on your "Mad Scientist Inc." name.  May be you have thought about these already, but just in case:

A company named "Mad Scientist Inc." doesn't tell people what you do.  You have to spend marketing dollar educating the customer and for a start up that could be money you don't want to spend.  In later days after the company is established, it would be less of a problem but you are front-loading the issue.

Just as, "Dave Jones Inc." tells you nothing about what the company is about,  "EEV-BLOG Inc." tells customers right off that it is a blog based company.  The V will need some explaining "v for video" but at least that is a short explanation.  I am sure you can imagine at the startup phase davejonesblog.com may be at a marketing disadvantage when compared to eevblog.com before people know who is Dave Jones?

Another case and point "RadioShack" - you don't need to look up what it sells.  "Crazy Eddies" - you have no idea what the store sells unless you saw one of their TV ads.

Also, it would be best if the name invokes sentiments that promotes certain positive quality from people.  Quality such as "good tasting stuff", "high quality stuff", "well designed stuff..."  For example, the grocery chain called "ShopRite" (north-east USA regional) achieved two things, "Right place to shop", and using "Rite" instead of "Right" makes it more unique - less likely for the name clash with other existing entities.  What does "Krogers" even means?  Well, "Krogers" is another grocery chain but it is mostly mid-west USA regional.  Name recognition isn't a problem now (not a startup) because most in town know "Krogers" sell groceries, but there is no "positive sentiment" associated with it.  Perhaps in the business' town-of-birth, everyone in town knew the guy sells only quality meat (or whatever) so "Krogers" conveys quality.  But when they first expanded say a few towns away, no one would know what/who "Krogers" is/was.  Had the business started as "Krogers Fresh", it could have been very helpful in the getting going.  Is "quality implication" build into the name necessary?  Of course not, but why give away a chance to pre-bias your customer to your favor?

A company name can help you get more sales, or help you loose more sales.  For example, "Christian Cakes" - well, may help you with Christians, but you may loose some muslim customers.  On the other hand, "Faithful Cakes" may loose fewer.    That said, if your business is to supply refreshment to Church Sunday Schools, that "Christian Cakes" may just be exactly the right name to go with.

So, you probably have to think from a business perspective about what message you want the name to convey.

[Halcyon]

If anything, it's more important to have a unique brand/company name so that you will always be the top of search results etc.
Just google "Mad Scientist Inc." if you names your company that won't appear in the top 10 google results for maybe years. It's a very bad business move.

+eleventy

It's a lot more important to have a name that doesn't return a bazillion results in Google than it is to have the most amazing catchy unbelievably name anyone has ever heard of.

I'd rather be ZootFunk Labs than the 873rd company named MicroTech Labs, for example.  I always think people spend way too much time doting over their company name early on... better to come up with a name that's unique and somewhat descriptive but generic enough to let you branch out a bit. 

Sweet Ass Electronics? Bob Rhubarb Electric Company? ;-)

[amyk]

Sad Mcientist Inc. should be pretty unique, however.