The Order That Saves Money
Most naming processes run backwards: fall in love with a name, buy the domain, design the logo, print the packaging, then discover a conflict. Reversing the sequence costs a few hours and prevents an expensive category of problem.
The correct order is: shortlist several names, run legal checks on all of them, check practical availability, then choose, then design. Never design before checking.
Check 1: Trademark Search
This is the check with actual legal consequences and the one most often skipped.
How to run a preliminary search yourself
- Use the public search facility on the Indian trademark registry to search for your proposed word mark.
- Search the exact name, then phonetic variations — the registry assesses deceptive similarity in sound and appearance, not just identical spelling.
- Search across the classes relevant to your business, and also adjacent classes where confusion is plausible.
- Note anything registered, pending, or opposed. A pending application is still a conflict.
- Repeat for every name on your shortlist before choosing between them.
Understanding classes
Trademarks are registered per class of goods or services, under a system of 45 classes. Two businesses can hold the same mark in unrelated classes. Common ones for the sectors we work with:
| Class | Covers |
|---|---|
| 9 | Software, apps, electronics, downloadable content |
| 25 | Clothing, footwear, headgear |
| 30 | Coffee, tea, confectionery, packaged foods |
| 35 | Advertising, business management, retail services |
| 41 | Education, training, entertainment |
| 42 | Design services, software development, IT services |
| 43 | Restaurants, cafés, hospitality, accommodation |
Register in the classes covering what you sell now and what you credibly plan to sell within a few years. Registering across many speculative classes is expensive and applications can be challenged for non-use.
Costs and timeline
- Government fee: ₹4,500 per class for individuals, startups, and small enterprises; ₹9,000 otherwise
- Attorney fees: ₹5,000 to ₹25,000 per application
- Timeline: 12 to 24 months to registration, longer if objected or opposed
- You may use TM immediately on filing; ® only after registration
Check 2: Company Name Availability
If you are incorporating, the MCA has separate rules from the trademark registry, and approval under one says nothing about the other.
- Names too similar to an existing registered company will be rejected
- Names conflicting with a registered trademark can be rejected even if no company holds them
- Certain words require specific approval — those implying government connection, or regulated terms like bank, insurance, or exchange
- Approval is checked through the MCA name reservation service before incorporation
The critical point: MCA approval is not trademark clearance. Businesses regularly incorporate successfully and then receive a cease-and-desist from a trademark holder. Do both checks.
Check 3: Domains
Check availability across the extensions that matter for your market, not just one.
- .com — still the default assumption for most audiences internationally
- .in and .co.in — entirely credible for India-focused businesses, and frequently available when the .com is not
- Category extensions — .studio, .app, .store and similar, which suit certain sectors well
Two things to watch. First, if the .com is owned by an active business in a related field, that is a trademark risk signal as much as a domain inconvenience. Second, avoid names requiring constant spelling clarification — if you have to say "with a K" every time you tell someone your website, that friction persists for the life of the business.
Once you register, keep the domain in your own name on your own registrar account. The reasons are covered thoroughly in our guide to website and domain ownership.
Check 4: Social Handles
Check the same handle across every platform you might use, including ones you do not use yet. A consistent handle is worth accepting a slightly less ideal name for, because inconsistent handles across platforms create permanent low-grade confusion.
If the exact handle is taken by a dormant account, a suffix is usually better than a misspelling. Also search the name as a hashtag and as a general search term to see what it is already associated with.
Check 5: The Practical Tests
Legal availability is necessary and not sufficient. Run these before committing:
- The phone test. Say the name aloud to someone who has never heard it and ask them to write it down. If they cannot spell it, every verbal referral leaks.
- Search the name. What comes up? A name that collides with a film, a public figure, or an existing controversy will be permanently difficult to rank for and awkward in conversation.
- Check meanings across Indian languages. A name that works in English may mean something unfortunate in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, or Marathi. For a business operating across India, this is a real check, not a joke.
- Say it in a sentence. "Hi, I'm calling from [name]." Some names are fine written and awkward spoken.
- Check for negative associations in your specific sector.
- Test abbreviation. Customers will shorten it. Decide whether you are comfortable with what they will shorten it to.
What Makes a Name Legally Strong
Not all names are equally protectable. Distinctiveness determines how defensible your trademark is.
| Type | Example pattern | Protectability |
|---|---|---|
| Invented | A coined word with no prior meaning | Strongest |
| Arbitrary | A real word unrelated to the product | Very strong |
| Suggestive | Hints at a benefit without describing it | Good |
| Descriptive | Describes what you sell | Weak; often refused |
| Generic | The common term for the product | Not protectable |
This is why "Best Web Design Company" cannot be protected while an invented word can. Descriptive names feel intuitive and helpful for search, and they leave you unable to stop anyone using a near-identical name. The trade-off is worth making consciously.
The Sequence, Summarised
- Generate a shortlist of five to eight names
- Run preliminary trademark searches on all of them across relevant classes
- Eliminate anything with a conflict — do not rationalise a close call
- Check MCA availability if incorporating
- Check domains and social handles for survivors
- Run the practical tests — pronunciation, search results, language meanings
- Choose, then register the domain and handles immediately
- File the trademark application before public launch
- Only now begin identity design
Steps one to seven cost a few hours and a few thousand rupees. Discovering the conflict after step nine costs the identity work, the printed inventory, the signage, and the accumulated recognition.
If You Receive a Cease-and-Desist
Do not ignore it, and do not respond emotionally. Get the claim assessed by a trademark attorney — some are legitimate, some are overreach from holders of weak or unrelated marks. Establish whether their registration predates your use, whether the classes genuinely overlap, and whether the marks are actually confusingly similar. Your own evidence of prior use matters, so keep dated records of when you began trading under the name.
Where the claim is sound, negotiating a transition period is usually cheaper and faster than litigation.
Kalex Studio works with businesses through naming and identity together, so the checks happen before the design does. If you are at the naming stage, talk to us before you commission anything. Note that this article is general guidance, not legal advice — engage a qualified trademark attorney for your specific situation.