There are a few things to consider when registering a company name. Firstly, what do you want to call it? You need to be strategic. If you intend to create a range of products, then name your company with a master brand, rather than your product or service’s name. For example; Microsoft created its products: Word, Excel, Access and Outlook under its master brand; Microsoft.
On the other hand, if you are sure that you want to create one product, then you name your company the product’s name. This is what MYOB accounting software did. MYOB is both the company and the product name.
When naming your company, the key is to think ahead to what you want to achieve. Are you going to have one or more product or service?
Be careful how you name your company because the name may not make sense if you pivot to a different product. If MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) failed early in their core accounting product and wanted to pivot to offer networking software solution, the name MYOB would not make a good fit. Whereas, Microsoft is non-descriptive and any type of software it produces will make sense.
Changing a company name is not the end of the world, however, it costs almost as much to change as it costs to register a new company. Additionally, if you change the name or register a new company, you lose the brand equity that you have built to date.
Once you have chosen a name, the first step is to find out if the company name is available. You can search for company name availability at easycompanies.com.au, which is an online company registration service. If you don’t want to register your company there, that’s fine. You can still check to see if the company name you have chosen is available on their website. It is a very easy tool.
Once you search and find the company name you want is available for registration, there is another step that you must perform before registering. You must check that the company name you have chosen has not already been registered as a trade mark. Trade mark searches are finicky and require skill and understanding of your business and the various classes of marks that are available. I recommend you have a lawyer help you with confirming the availability of a trade mark which will give you the green light to register your company.
