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Globalize your business name

Globalization and the Internet influence local small business in unexpected ways. Business names are an afterthought in small towns. Sally’s Drug may be the only drug store in town, and Stan’s Sporting Goods the only woodsman’s warehouse. Most are sole proprietorships who use their own name to distinguish the business in their county or, if the owner is ambitious, in the state registry. The danger that a similarly-named sporting goods store will contest Stan’s Sporting Goods is imperceptible, and so local businesses rarely compare the name of their business or products with state trademark and service mark registries–even less federal registries.…