Most founders pick a business name in two weeks of slack-channel chaos with their cofounder, settle on something they "love", buy the domain, and assume that is the end of the work. Six months in, the cease-and-desist letter arrives, and the rebranding cost dwarfs everything they thought they were saving by skipping the proper process.
Here is the 5-step process I run with consulting clients before they commit. It takes 4-6 hours total spread across two weeks. Total spend if you stay free at every optional stage: 0 USD. Total spend if you hire an attorney for the final clearance (recommended): 800-2,500 USD depending on jurisdictions. Total cost if you skip the process: anywhere from 25,000 to 600,000 USD when the letter arrives.
Step 1 — Generate candidates from the right starting brief
The biggest mistake most founders make is generating names from a cofounder brainstorm with no constraints. The result is 50 names that all sound the same — three syllables, ends in -ly or -ify, optionally combined with the industry word.
A better brief specifies four things. Industry / niche (specific, not "tech" — "fintech for solo founders" or "vegan dog food"). Target customer (not "everyone" — "Series A startup CFOs" or "millennials buying their first house"). Brand personality (modern made-up word, classic descriptive, playful evocative, technical precise). Length and pronounceability constraints (1-2 syllables for memorability, must work in a phone call without spelling it).
Run the brief through a real generator that takes those constraints. The free tool at /tools/business-name-generator-trademark/ accepts industry + vibe and generates 20 candidates Claude has scored on brandability (distinctiveness, pronounceability, .com chance, memorability, semantic fit). Save the JSON or take a screenshot. You should have a shortlist of 8-12 candidates by the end of step 1.
Step 2 — Run a trademark check across the right offices
Not the 50 candidates. Just the shortlist of 8-12. The check is the gating step: any name with a registered trademark in your business class is dead. No appeal, no negotiation, no domain-availability tiebreak. Drop it.
Three offices matter for most brands. USPTO for US operators. EUIPO for EU. WIPO Madrid for international. The data is publicly searchable but slow to do manually — one of the three takes about 90 seconds per name if you know the systems, ten minutes if you do not. Twelve names × three offices = 36 minutes minimum if you are fast. The free tool runs all three in parallel in about 20 seconds.
Read the actual conflicts the tool surfaces. The fields that matter: mark text (does it match yours exactly or just sound similar?), owner (is it a defunct company that lapsed, or an active brand?), filing date (older = stronger), status (live, abandoned, cancelled — only live matters), and NICE classes (does the conflict overlap your business class?). A name with a registered mark in Class 25 (apparel) is not a problem if you are launching a SaaS in Class 42, generally. A name with a registered mark in Class 42 if you are also Class 42 is dead.
After step 2, you should have 3-5 candidates left.
Step 3 — Domain availability and the secondary check
Now check domains. The .com is the gold standard but increasingly impossible for new brands; .io, .co, .ai are acceptable in tech; .store, .shop in ecommerce. Skip .info, .biz, .net unless the .com is genuinely unattainable.
Domain check is fast — Cloudflare, Namecheap, or Porkbun tell you in 2 seconds whether the domain is registered. If it is, the question is whether the holder will sell. Atom.com and similar marketplaces aggregate domains for sale; expect 1,000-50,000 USD for a passable .com on a meaningful word, 100,000+ for premium. Most brands cannot justify that spend pre-revenue; pick a brandable name where the .com is either available or dirt-cheap as a brand-new registration.
After step 3, 2-3 candidates remain. This is the right moment to involve cofounders, designers, and any senior advisors. Show them the survivors and the rationale; do not show them the original 20 to avoid bikeshedding.
Step 4 — Attorney clearance for the final candidate
This is the step founders skip and pay for later. An attorney does three things the tool cannot. Common-law trademark search (unregistered marks established by prior commercial use). Country-specific office search (UK IPO, JPO, KIPO, etc., which the free tool does not cover). Use-and-jurisdiction analysis specific to your products and geography.
Cost: 800-2,500 USD typical for a US clearance opinion, 1,500-4,000 for US + EU. The clearance opinion is a written document you keep on file — it is your defence if a conflict surfaces later because the attorney certified that they ran the searches. Skipping the clearance means the cease-and-desist becomes your problem alone; running the clearance means at least your attorney shares the diagnostic responsibility.
Pick the attorney by speciality, not by price. A trademark-specialist attorney at 2,000 USD beats a generalist at 1,000 every time. Recommendations from your industry network are usually right; a quick LinkedIn check confirms.
Step 5 — Register the trademark before launch
Once cleared, file the trademark application immediately. Do not wait for "after launch when revenue is in". The first-to-file rule in the EU and the strong first-to-file shortcut in the US mean every week between clearance and filing is a week another company can register the same name and force you to fight or rebrand.
Filing cost: 250-700 USD per office for the basic application, plus the attorney fee if you use one (highly recommended for the first filing — 1,000-2,500 USD typical). The application takes 8-14 months to fully process in the US, 4-9 months in the EU. During that time, you can use the ™ symbol on your brand assets; you cannot use ® until the registration is granted.
File at minimum in your home jurisdiction. International e-commerce brands should file in US, EU, and any country accounting for >5% of revenue. WIPO Madrid is a way to file once across multiple countries via the Madrid Protocol — cheaper than filing in each individually if you need 3+ countries.
Total time + cost economics, summarised
Step 1 (generate): 30 minutes free.
Step 2 (TM check): 20 seconds via the free tool, or 36-60 minutes manual.
Step 3 (domain): 5 minutes manual via your registrar of choice.
Step 4 (attorney clearance): 800-2,500 USD, 1-3 weeks turnaround.
Step 5 (register): 250-700 USD per office filing fee, plus 1,000-2,500 USD attorney fee for the first filing.
Total time investment: 4-6 hours of your time + 4-8 weeks calendar time waiting for clearance and filing.
Total spend: 2,000-6,000 USD all-in for a US-only brand, 4,000-12,000 USD for US + EU + international protection.
Cost of skipping any step: anywhere from 25,000 to 600,000 USD plus a year of distraction. The maths is not close.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just check trademarks myself for free?
Yes — USPTO TESS, EUIPO eSearch, and WIPO Madrid Monitor are all publicly searchable and free. The catch is the time and the false-confidence risk. A user not familiar with the systems will miss obvious conflicts (mark text variations, NICE class overlaps, mark text in other languages). The free tool aggregates the three major offices and presents the conflicts cleanly; for the avoidance of false confidence, it is faster and more reliable than the manual route.
Should I file the trademark myself or use an attorney?
First filing: use an attorney. The procedural rules and class-of-goods specifications matter; a botched first filing can permanently weaken your trademark protection. Subsequent filings (additional countries, additional classes): you can file yourself if you understand the patterns from the first attorney filing. The attorney pays for itself by avoiding the procedural mistakes that cause first-filing rejections.
What if the attorney clearance comes back with concerns?
Take the concerns seriously. Attorney concerns are not "bureaucratic caution" — they reflect real risk patterns the attorney has seen play out before. Drop the candidate and go back to step 2 with a different shortlist name. The cost of switching at this point is low (3,000 USD attorney + 5,000 design); the cost of pushing through a flagged name is potentially 10x higher in 18 months when the conflict surfaces.
How long does the full process take from idea to filed trademark?
Realistic timeline: 4-8 weeks from "I need a name" to "trademark application filed". Steps 1-3 take a week of your time. Attorney clearance takes 1-3 weeks. Filing prep takes another week. After that, the trademark office takes 4-14 months to process, but you can use the name commercially with ™ during that window.
What if I have already named my business and skipped this process?
Run the trademark check now via the free tool. If it surfaces conflicts in your NICE class, talk to an attorney about the risk profile and whether to rebrand proactively or buy time. If it surfaces no conflicts in your class, file the trademark immediately to lock in your priority date. The cease-and-desist letter is much harder to fight when you have not registered your own mark; filing now buys you defence.
What to do next
Run step 2 right now via the free tool at /tools/business-name-generator-trademark/. Free, 20 seconds, real trademark data across USPTO, EUIPO, and WIPO Madrid. The output is the shortlist worth taking to step 4.
Read the pillar piece on why most generators do not check trademarks if you have not yet.
Or book a 30-min call to talk through a specific naming brief.