Page 265 - Washington Nonprofit Handbook 2018 Edition

This can be done at sites such as www.GoDaddy.com, www.tucows.com, or
www.GoogleDomains.com.

A nonprofit corporation should be forewarned that it is often very difficult to
find an appropriate business name/trademark (so much so that this difficulty has
been the subject of a Dilbert cartoon). At times, it may be very frustrating because
all the desired choices will seemingly be taken. A nonprofit corporation can
increase its chances of finding a suitable name by choosing arbitrary or fanciful
terms (e.g. made up words like “Dasani” or real words like “Apple” that have no
connection to the good or service).

After completing the above searches and identifying a few potential names
that seem to be available, a nonprofit corporation should consider consulting with
an experienced attorney. The attorney may point out problems that were not
otherwise obvious, or may indicate that a situation that appeared risky to the
nonprofit corporation is not very problematic. In any event, it is best to have

several alternative names to discuss with the attorney. Nonprofit corporations
should avoid becoming too “attached” to one name before conducting the above
investigations. It can be a frustrating and expensive lesson for a nonprofit
corporation to launch a new business without the proper investigation, as it may
subsequently receive a “cease and desist” letter from a prior user that forces the
nonprofit corporation to change its name and all materials that contain the old
name.

It should be emphasized that the analysis of whether a nonprofit
corporation's proposed name may have potential problems is an art rather than a
science and requires experience in this area. A nonprofit corporation may have a
problem even if its name is not identical to another entity and even if the

Washington Secretary of State’s Office approves the nonprofit corporation’s name.
Thus, it is highly recommended that an experienced attorney assist with this
analysis.

The above research can be done while the nonprofit corporation's articles of
incorporation are being prepared, and the eventual name chosen can be inserted
prior to the articles of incorporation being filed. Once the articles of incorporation
are filed, a Washington Master Business Application must also be filed (as discussed
in Chapter 10). The Master Business Application contains a section where the
nonprofit corporation can register its trade names. Although it may not be
mandatory, this section should be used to register the nonprofit corporation's
trade names because registration by this method is inexpensive and can be done

WASHINGTON NONPROFIT HANDBOOK -254- 2018