You’ll want to choose a business name that reflects your brand identity and doesn’t clash with the types of goods and services you offer.

Once you settle on a name you like, you need to protect it. There are four different ways to register your business name. Each way of registering your name serves a different purpose, and some may be legally required depending on your business structure and location.

• Entity name protects you at a state level
• Trademark protects you at a federal level
• Doing business as (DBA) doesn’t give legal protection, but it might be legally required
• Domain name protects your business website address

Each of these name registrations are legally independent. Most small businesses try to use the same name for each kind of registration, but you’re not normally required to.

See original article on sba.gov