Does Registering My Company Name With the State Provide Trademark Protection?

There have been so many times during consultations with clients, where i have had to explain the difference between protecting your business name with the secretary of state and protecting your brand name with the uspto.

in short…registering your business name with the secretary of state does not provide federal trademark protection.

Many first time business owners mistakenly think that registering their company with the state as an LLC or other business entity provides them with intellectual property protection for their business name. This misunderstanding is often comes about because the state authorities will check to see if your business name is the same or similar to those already operating in the state. The requirements for name availability vary from state to state, but, in general, states don't allow two business entities with the same, or almost the same, name. This means that once you have formed your business, your state won't allow another company to be formed with the same name. For example, if you own “Kids Footwear, Inc.," your state may deem it acceptable for a competitor to form a business called “For the Kidz Footwear, Inc."

However, this process does nothing to give your business trademark protection for its name from competitor businesses, especially those operating in other states. In many states, business formation laws do not regulate “doing business as" or “dba" names used by sole proprietors, partnerships, or even corporations and LLCs. Thus, your business registration may not stop another entrepreneur from doing business under a name that's similar or even the same as yours.

Using your name in business may give you some trademark protection within your locality. You may be able to use these “common law" trademark rights to stop a competitor from using your name locally. But state business entity registration does not in itself offer any trademark protection, nor does it prevent an identically-named business from setting up shop in a neighboring state.