

Naming Your Startup After a Spice/Fruit/Vegetable Name - syedahmed

I&#x27;m a first time entrepreneur. I&#x27;m building a restaurant deals app. I came up with a little over a dozen of names for my startup&#x2F;app and .com  is available for most of them. Then I realized that it doesn&#x27;t really matter what domain extension I use, it&#x27;s a mobile app which people will download from Play Store or the App Store. So, I decided that I should name my startup&#x2F;app after some spice, vegetable or fruit. I&#x27;ve checked the trademark database (TESS) and it shows the word &#x27;Basil&#x27; as trademarked. I thought common names couldn&#x27;t be trademarked. Would love to hear your thoughts on naming the startup&#x2F;product after common names (specifically after spices, vegetables or fruits in my case). Thanks, HN Community.
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smt88
I can't even begin to tell you how hard what you're doing is. There is an
endless graveyard of "deals apps". Restaurants are almost impossible to pitch
to begin with, but as soon as you say "deals", they'll kick you out the door.

I'm begging you, from experience, not to do this business. The fact that
you're so hung up on the name is also not a good sign.

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syedahmed
Hey there! Thanks for your advice. I understand why you advice not to build
another restaurant deal mobile app, but I am targeting a specific market with
my app. Also, what I failed to mention is this isn't just another deal-only
app. I'm actually building a solution that is sort of unique for the
restaurant industry. I can't really disclose it here yet as I'm still building
the app. Oh yeah! I also picked a name for it. Again, thanks for your advice,
but I know I'm actually solving a problem for the restaurants by building this
app as I myself worked in a restaurant for like 7 years.

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kw71
Trademarks have limited scope, and trademark bullies have been shot down
because the similar trademarks are in different industries with enough
separation that confusion in the marketplace is unlikely.

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syedahmed
Thanks, kw71. It definitely helps. I went ahead and named my app after an
herb.

