Each company, these days, has three names: its corporate name, its Internet domain name and the trademark by which consumers identify the products that it markets. The corporate name identifies the business entity itself; the Internet domain name is the company’s Web site locator; and the trademark refers to the brand name for its goods or services.
E-commerce has increased the high stakes involved in the “tri-names” gamble that may confront a company. While striving to enhance its individual assets, companies must recognize the true worth of its treasure trove of tri-names, which can signify good will, consumer affiliation and profitability.
There is no rule that the domain name of the company should mirror its corporate name, or even the trademark for its products. However, commercial reality indicates that potential consumers and Internet users will probably try to locate the company online by keying in its corporate name or the known brand name of its product. While the domain name of the company may comprise numerals, and its trademark may be merely a logo or design, this tri-names gamble deals purely with carefully chosen words. Cardinal to the game plan is to choose a premium name asset. The company should strive to invoke the “I and U name-creation rule” — to select and secure a name that is imaginative, ingenious, unusual and unforgettable. Bland, descriptive names that include words commonly used by consumers in the marketplace will likely stack up as non-distinctive sure losses.
The crunch is that each name is obtained from a different authority. The corporate name is registered with the secretary of state in the state where the company carries on business. The domain name is reserved with a non-governmental single registry called Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). The trademark that aims to secure nationwide rights is registered with the federal US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). These authorities are not interlinked or inter-related; and neither the company’s corporate name registration nor its separate Internet domain name NSI-reservation actually provide superior legal rights to the name.
Companies in the formation stage should synchronize the choice, usage and registration of its three important names. Any professional searches on whether the proposed name is available for use as a corporate name, a domain name, and its brand name should occur simultaneously, and all available sources should be scoured: state corporate records, the trademark office, the NSI registers, and, of course, the omnipotent Internet. No name asset can be a winner if adopting and using it may open the company to legal action by another claiming superior legal rights to the name.

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