Many naming mistakes can cost you a lot of money, but do you know which are the three most expensive naming mistakes for your business?

The naming process of a new business, product or service can be a very creative one and you can put a lot of enthusiasm in finding the perfect names. It can also cover you with a lot of frustrations if you cannot find the right name in a small period of time. The real problem is not one of these cases. Even if you consider yourself quite creative, even if the founded name sounds great and your friends or potential customers like it a lot, you may encounter one of these three really big problems.

1)     Linguistic naming problems with different names around the world

Mercedes-Benz entered the Chinese market under the brand name "Bensi," which means "rush to die." We are pretty sure that nobody would choose a car that it is in a hurry to get you killed.

Feel free to read our article about big linguistic naming mistakes, if you need to see more examples.

2)     Trademark registration issues

There are two categories of trademarks in United States (especially) – registered and unregistered.

Unregistered trademark means that it can be used by any business, assuming it is eligible to be a trademark. To identify an unregistered trademark, simply place the trademark symbol (™) after or on the brand name, advertising slogan or graphic design. That’s all you have to do. In the event of a dispute over a trademark, the company that first used the trademark will win in most circumstances.

Registered trademark. It is recognized on the U.S. territory. Principal advantages? A registered trademark provides a legal presumption of ownership, which can be a huge benefit in the event of a trademark legal dispute. The registered trademark makes it easier to file suit against copycats. And registering a mark in United States can help if you want to extend a trademark to other nations. Very important! Registered U.S. trademarks use the registered symbol (®).

Main reasons to take into consideration the trademark registration?

-         Your business concept is very easy to be copied

-         Your business it’s growing very fast and for sure you need additional legal protection

-         You are looking for an investment in order to raise your capital

-         You are interested in selling your business in the next future.

3)     Pronunciation and spelling problems

Flickr started the trend of dropping a letter to get a .com domain name.

Caterina Fake, Flickr co-founder, explains, ‘We tried to buy the domain from the prior owner who made a beer called Flicker Beer. He wasn’t interested in selling … We liked the name ‘Flicker’ so much we dropped the E.’

The decision was costly. The site lost more than 3.6 million visitors per year to flicker.com! Dropping a letter will decrease the power of your brand name, because people will use the proper spelling first.

Other examples? Tumblr, Grindr, Scribd. Even Twitter was launched as Twtter in 2006, because the .com domain was taken. Of course, they solved that issue.

You should take into consideration the pronunciation problem of your name. Even if for you sounds simple to pronounce, your potential clients can have a quite different opinion.

A naming agency follows a well-established naming process which includes: linguistic screening, trademark screening and also can advice you on spelling and pronunciation problems.

If you are looking for a business, product or service name, you should take all the precautions in order to avoid losing a lot of time and of course, a lot of money that can be invested in the growth of your brand.

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