What’s in a name?

Part of creating a business is creating the name. After all, it’s what you want people to remember.

But here’s the deal. There is more to naming your business than just coming up with something that sounds good and you happen to like.

And I’m not talking about marketing or branding.

Thought must be given to state and local requirements and making sure you don’t infringe upon the rights of someone else’s business name.

Recently Forbes.com highlighted some of the legal battles small (and a bit larger) businesses are havin because they chose the wrong name.

The giant Ebay is coming down hard on smaller businesses that have the name ‘bay’ as part of their company’s identity.

According to the story, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy estimates that 30,000 small companies are involved in litigation involving big companies each year. And smaller companies are paying thousands of dollars to fight the suits.

So what’s in a name? Everything. Including a legal help before creating a brand.