Question: Does a corporation or DBA still need to trademark their name? I know they have to trademark their logos but what about just the name?

Answer: The choice to trademark is not related to a company name or DBA (Doing Business As). Trademarking is done to protect your interests and rights in a name or phrase.  If your primary brand in the market is your company name (or DBA), trademarking is a good idea.  If your main brand in the market is a product, I recommend trademarking that.\n\nYou can go on the US PTO web site and submit trademarks yourself.  There is alot of information on the USPTO website on the rules and guidelines.  It takes about 1 year or so for an application for go through (or be denied).  Once you have applied for trademark (or service mark), make sure you label all of your sales, marketing and corporate materials with SM or TM.\n\nRelated to your question might also be whether you own the Internet URL for the company or DBA.  You can have a trademark on something, but not have rights to the URL.
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