If you want to be the only one using the name you have chosen, you obviously need legal protection.

In today's competitive market place, protecting your business identity has become one of the most important steps you can take. Here are few reasons why you should register your trademark:

• you receive exclusive nationwide ownership
• you will not be accused of infringement
• you will deter others from using the identical or similar trademark in the same category of goods or services
• no other trademarks similar to yours will be registered
• your trademark will be mentioned in search reports ordered by others
• you will have a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries.

Before spending time and money promoting your name, make sure that the name is available. While optional, a comprehensive trademark search, either nationwide or international, is advisable to know if the chosen name is not registered or not being used already by someone else.

If the trademark preliminary search shows that your name is clean, continue with filing a trademark application.

Once the registration is done, you may need to keep an eye for misuse or illegal use of your trademark. So you can request a monitoring of your trademark.

Finally, as there is no business without implying Internet, you should check the domain availability of the name. Don't worry if YourChosenName.com is already taken. Add some words or letters and thus obtain an available domain name. Or use WordMaker to create a domain name related to your business.