I was chatting with a friend last week about a new website she was about to get off the ground. She was particularly excited about the name of the website -- a name that I noticed was VERY close to a concept made popular several years ago in a book by business author Jim Collins. Now, my friend was not familiar with Jim Collins' work, so she had no idea that the name of her website was dangerously close to his concept. And even if she had known, that might not have made a difference anyway, since she was so excited about it. But, as I pointed out to her, if Collins went to the trouble of trademarking the term, then she might not be able to use it.

Oh.

Despite the fact that my friend had already purchased the URL for her website -- using the name she had chosen -- and had engaged a designer to put the site together, she hadn't bothered to check to see if anyone had already trademarked the term. This was a potentially fatal error. Not only would much of the work she had already completed to date have to be revised -- wasting many hours of her time -- she would then have to figure out a new name for her approach that would resonate with potential clients as well as the one she first selected.

In case you've never checked for yourself to see if a name is trademarked, it's actually quite easy -- you don't need a lawyer or patent expert to do it for you. Simply visit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) online -- www.uspto.gov -- and do a search for the term of interest using their TESS system. Within seconds you'll have your answer. And if the coast is clear, you can easily apply for a trademark yourself at the USPTO site. The application process takes about 15 minutes from beginning to end, and the price to apply for a single trademark is in the vicinity of $300. Assuming there are no snags in your application -- and that no one else can lay claim to the trademark you're applying for -- you should have your approved mark within six months.

The good news is that Jim Collins had not trademarked the term my friend wanted to use for her site, and she will soon be applying for the trademark herself.

The lesson is that if you come up with a great new name for a business or product or process or service that you'll want to put into nationwide distribution, then be sure to check the USPTO trademark database as soon as you can. If the mark is already taken, then you'll save yourself a lot of wasted time and money. And if it's not taken, then you'll be able to rest easier at night knowing that the path is clear for you to take it for yourself.