After a company name is selected, business owners have other matters to consider. For example, even though a name you like for your enterprise feels like just the right moniker, it could be too similar to another company’s name to be a viable choice.

So just where should a person look to see if the name they want for their business is available?

“It depends on the scope of the intended use of the name,” says Brian J. Downey, Of Counsel with the Columbus office of Barnes & Thornburg. According to Downey, whose practice focuses on intellectual property, copyright and trademark law, if a business is simply a holding company, a check of the Secretary of State’s website of the state where the business is incorporated should suffice to see if the name is available.

If the intended use is multi-state, check multiple Secretary of State’s web sites including where the company is incorporated, says Downey. “If the company intends to have a broader reach than that, choosing a name is even more complex because it can involve trademarks” and other considerations, he says.

To use a name nationwide, a company owner should check its availability with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Googling the name might sound simplistic, but it’s an easy way to see if the name is already in use, and, if so, where and for what purpose.

While Downey strongly advocates people use those two resources to see if a name is available, he does so with a caveat. “The real problem is that the Internet and Google really find exact matches, not names, that could cause (name) confusion,” he says.

Kerri Jordan, a Digital Branding consultant with Brandivo, says another place to check is Manta, a site promoting small businesses in a variety of ways. She says it’s also a good idea to surf to GoDaddy and Alexa. The former is a site where people buy domain names and build web sites and the latter offers statistics detailing how often people surf to a particular web site.

Downey has another tip to offer entrepreneurs seeking the best name for their enterprise. “There is always tension between marketing people who want the name to convey what the company does but trademark lawyers want the name to be more arbitrary,” he says.

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Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and freelance writer. She may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or @girlwithapen.