Is there any law on naming a buisness and where can i find out?

Question

There is a restaurant i am opening. And the name is Maiwand Grill. But there is another restaurant called Maiwand Kabob. Is it ok for me to call my restaurant Maiwand Grill?

Answer 1

idk

Answer 2

I know when our local Animal Shelter opened up a second hand store, they named it Neiman Barkus and the company Neiman Markes sued...they had to change their name! :(

Answer 3

You probably can, but you need to check with your county and make sure your name is not registered.  Call whatever county you live in. In ours, there is a giant listing of DBA's (doing business as..)   And you cannot register as anything that is identical an existing company.

Now --- do you REALLY want such a similar name?  

Suppose they are crappy business people, and don't pay their bills on time.  You may call a vendor, and then have to spend time arguing that you are a different entity.  

Customers also might confuse you.  Suppose they run a coupon special and people come in asking you to honor it .  When they find out You are not the place, they leave mad.  Or - what if they have bad service or bad sanitation - people might confuse you and not come in to your place.  

Also -- there is a possibility of a double meaning with the anglocized pronunciation.  While it is a suitable Afghan word, In english - it might be construed as "racy"  or "vulgar"    as "My Wand"  or male private parts.  We have a famous Chinese restaurant called "House of Poon" that suffers because of the connotation of female private parts.    

As a business person, I would seriously consider another different & suitable name.

Answer 4

I agree with the previous post, you need to check the "Doing Business As" list.  There are many factors..how close the businesses are together and really whether or not the already established business minds.  If they don't mind and you're on the other side of town, you're fine but if they do mind, you may have to change it.  You can check that list when register your federal id # with your state comptroller's office to open your employee withholding and sales and use tax accnt and get your business licnense with the department of labor, licensing, and regulation.  It should all be there. At least that's how it is in my state.

Answer 5

I'm not really sure what "Maiwand" means. If it is, for example, your last name, or a type of food, I really can't see how someone would be able to prevent you from naming your restaurant that.