Soon after you have the brilliant brainstorm for your business, you realize you need to name it. No matter how you arrive at your company's name, chances are you put a good deal of time and money (think letterhead, packaging, etc.) into it quickly thereafter. So why not protect it from being used or stolen by someone else?

You should not start a business without consulting with professionals, and that includes a lawyer. I've seen too many folks try to DIY the start-up, and though they save money on the front end, they end up spending at least 10 times more on the back end to fix issues that could have been completely prevented. But professionals (especially lawyers) are expensive. So what to do? I've got an idea...