Starting a new business is exciting—you pick a great name, file your registration with the state, and boom! You’re official. But here’s the catch: just because you’ve registered your business name with your state doesn’t mean you actually own the rights to that name. Using it with the public may even be trademark infringement. No joke!In this episode I talk about the following issues:✅The Business Name on Your Formation Documents vs. Trademark Rights: What’s the Difference?✅ Don’t Let the State Let You Down: The Risk of Unintended Trademark Infringement (why state registration of a business provides ZERO assurance that 1. the name is available to you to use as a trademark, and2. the registered name isn’t infringing someone else’s trademark rights.)✅ Get Up to Speed: How to Clear and Protect Your Business Name:1. Have a Trademark Search Done By an Experienced Trademark Attorney 2. Document Your Trademark Use3. Apply to Register a Trademark✅ Something to Rely On: Trademark Clearance and Registration, NOT Business Formation DocumentsRegistering your business name with the state through your formation documents is a good first step in protecting your business name, but all it means is that there isn’t an identical business name in your state. That doesn’t mean no other business has that name or one confusingly similar to it, so it doesn’t mean you have trademark rights to it or that you won’t be committing trademark infringement by using it with the public.Having a thorough trademark search by an experienced trademark attorney can help you pick a non-infringing name you can make sure isn’t trademark infringement and that you can secure as yours through trademark registration. Trademark search and application for registration before committing to a business name is a worthy investment that will help you secure your brand, avoid legal trouble, and save time and money down the road. You can even have a search done and apply for registration long after you’ve been in operation, as long as that search doesn’t turn up anything problematic. If it does, you can work with a trademark attorney on quietly rebranding asap.Now that you know these trademark facts, you know it’s truly never enough to rely on your secretary of state’s office for trademark clearance or protection and you’re ready to start working with an experienced trademark attorney to know and protect your rights to your business name. If you’d like help with trademarks, let’s talk. Please go to kingpatentlaw.com to book a consultation, call my office at 312-596-2222 or 217-714-8558, or email me at julie@kingpatentlaw.com.