cognate.com

cognate business registration is for the over 95% of us businesses that don’t register their trademarks with the us patent and trademark office. under us law, you start earning trademark rights through actual use of your mark, no government registration (or fees) required. we provide a place for you to make a record of these rights. before cognate, people could stake out a claim for their business name in a number of ways: they could register with the federal government, register with their state, or file a “doing business as” (d/b/a) certificate with their state or county. all of these options involve government fees, and often the assistance of lawyers. now cognate's simple, free site allows a company to register its name in a database specifically designed to create a free business name registration directory. when you register your business name on cognate, you make a clear and public claim to your “common law” trademark rights, which may be superior even to another party’s federal