How do I find out if the name I thought of for a business has been copyrighted already?

What if I registered a Web domain that was copyrighted?

How do I find out if the name I thought of for a business has been copyrighted already?

The short answer to your question is that business names can%26#039;t be copyrighted. A business may be named after a product whose brand name was trademarked (Xerox, for one). This obviously offers a great deal of protection to the owner of the mark. There is little protection in a name like %26quot;Bill%26#039;s Saw Sharpening Service%26quot;. If you were in a town a couple hundred miles away you could use the same name with no fear of legal problems. However, if you were in the same town and used the same name the original Bill could come after you on a number of issues.

If you register a domain name using someones trademark you are probably going to have problems. You may be on solid legal ground but it will take a lot of lawyering to prove it.

How do I find out if the name I thought of for a business has been copyrighted already?

try godaddy.com you can check there

Other Replys:Google the internet for the website for copyrighting with the government. It should have some information on it to explain what can be copyrighted and some information on if it has already been copyrighted.

Other Replys:You check with your Secretary of State%26#039;s office when you register.

Other Replys:Copyright, at the very least, applies to %26quot;designed%26quot; works. Trademarks apply to words, phrases, and terms, which is more appropriate for your question.

You%26#039;d have to do an exhaustive search if you really want to find out if the term/s within the domain name is also being used as a trademark. Google is one place to check, your federal or local trademark database is another.