Trademark

Protecting your product's name and logo, and checking you aren't infringing someone else's.

Also known as: trademark, brand protection, registering a trademark

A trademark protects the names, logos and slogans identifying your product from confusingly similar use by others — and, symmetrically, the search before adopting a name protects you from infringing someone else’s mark. It is the cheapest brand insurance available, and the most skipped until a cease-and-desist (or a rebrand mid-traction) teaches its value.

before naming:  search registries + web + app stores for conflicts (in markets you'll enter)
after naming:   file in home market early; extend to expansion markets before entering

Search first in every market that matters: a clear name locally can collide in the US, EU or neighboring SEA countries, and rebranding after launch costs far more than checking upfront. File at home early (costs are modest); extend as expansion firms up.

The classic mistakes:

Falling in love with an unusable name. Months of brand attachment to something unregistrable or conflicting. Clear the name before the logo, the domain celebration and the merch.
Confusing company, product and domain names. The PT name, the brand and the .com can differ — and each needs its own clearance. Check all three, protect what customers see.
Descriptive names that cannot protect. “FastPay” describes; distinctive marks protect. Coined or suggestive names (arbitrary to the product) register strongest — factor this into naming, not after.
Ignoring lookalikes in adjacent classes. Trademark scope runs by goods/services classes; a clash in yours blocks you even from a different industry’s famous mark direction. Search your classes specifically.
No monitoring after filing. Registration without watching lets infringers entrench. Watch key markets periodically; enforce early and proportionally (a letter before a lawsuit).

Budget it with formation costs, not as a later luxury. A cleared, filed mark in home plus expansion markets is a quiet asset acquirers and partners both check.