Actually I put a bit of effort into names. I make sure the trademark and the web address is also available. If I love the name then I buy the web address, but I’m not married to it. Then there are times that I can’t come up with anything I like. For my WestPoint entry I couldn’t come up with something great for the life of me- so I just gave it a name and moved on. They say once it’s licensed they rename it anyway- so I just try and get a name that I’m proud to use when I discuss it.

I consider a name to be very important part of the inventing process – not to brag but I consider branding one of my best skills.

lol Michael, it’s ok to brag :-)
So Holly, you’re the one who owns all the names I wanted? lol

For some things, I am still stumped and when push comes to shove on the EN entries, I sometimes just grab a name and enter it.

It really can drive me nuts!

Not all of them :-) Considering 2 years ago I had no idea how to buy a domain name, and now I own a handful of them- just goes to disprove that old dog/new trick thing.

Hi Tania, It’s me the happy poster,lol. You will think this is weird, but I don’t care, when I come up with a name for a project I like to convert it to Latin and get a feel for the name. Most of the time I will change it because I find another word or phrase that is a better match for what I am trying to convey . I know weird

not weird…the only weird thing is that you’re in the right thread!!! hahaha

isn’t latin the root of words? makes it interesting…maybe I’ll play with that a bit and see what jumps into my head :-)

Or let me show you my mad skills and give you a great name.

Oh…I’ve got a name for her Michael…LOL :)

Tania, you crack me up,lol. If I was on the right thread it was an accident.

well, I thought I had an okay name, but when showing a pro in the field, I learned that my naming skills are not quite tuned yet,lol…I have a lot to learn :-)

Do you think that companies we put our ideas into would have a lot more respect for us if our great ideas came along with a name they wanted to keep?

Would they pay more for a great product AND a great name?

Isn’t that one less step they have to take, making it easier to say “yes” to our product?

Wouldn’t it make sense to make names geared towards consumers. The companies that view our ideas are consumers. Should we always assume they can look past a boring name and see the money our ideas are worth?

Wouldn’t we stand out from many others if our name was market ready?

At the end of the day, don’t we want my product name to play in their head? :-)

Unfortunately, in my head they all sound good.
Then I show them to the pros and they say nooooo.
Do over. hahahaha

Oye! settle down up there! :-)

Mark has a name for me….hmmmm…me or my idea?

lol Ed, we’ll just keep a look out for you all over ;-)

haha,I hear ya Toni :-)

Michael, I’d say let’s pick an item and play a game of naming it, but my brain has been turned into mush the last few days:-)

feel free to go ahead though, I’ll probably not be able to help myself and start playing along hahaha. Grab an item off google image and let’s see how easy everyone finds it. Should be fun!
and the name cannot exist in the USPTO data base and must have a domain name available.

I have a name for you Tania, One Of A Kind :))

Toni’s on my good list :-)) lol

Hey, Tania. I think that’s a great exercise!
How about including a tag line as well?
Ya know, like, “M&M’s, they melt in your mouth, not in your hands.”

Unless this excerise offends EE, how about if we throw around names for Citilug. I know I’m not the only one who has never warmed up to this name. It is for the bag carrier from EE Season 2. So how about it, what name would you have called it?

What does it look like? Do we have a picture?

Tania, I have always been impressed by your tenacity. You are quite correct, a name can help boost or sink a product. You want a name easy to remember, spell, and if possible conveys to the consumer what the product is about. One of Disney’s tricks is to use Alliteration when possible. Look at some of their best known characters, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse. Warner Bros did the same for their characters, Foghorn Leghorn, Road Runner, Buggs Bunny, Porky Pig. You get the idea.
You want a name that sticks in the persons mind so that when they are thinking of what they are wanting yours is the first that pops up.
I will make someone happy by using the Handi-Straps as an example. Great name, you get the sense of what it is without even seeing the product. Another would be Mark’s Can Caps. It again gives you a sense of what the product might be and its function. Lets not forget my own Pebble Peeler.
When a consumer is walking down the aisle and is browsing the shelves you have about 15 seconds for them to scan, see your product packaging before they pass by. Something about its packaging, name, product design or uniqueness has to catch their eye to make them want to stop and learn more.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

Roger… you missed something ….yes, alot of thought went into Handi-Straps. It was chosen for association and generic terms as a two for one. The strap invention connects to the hands….the generic terms are easy to remember and explain what it is…as well as will be remembered because of usage association to terms. all figured from the beginning.

The problem is…and I did a no-no but I still wanted the name. I spelled handy wrong. This does hurt me. As a rule don’t spell generic names wrong. You confuse the public. I had to do this for trademark reasons or drop the name altogether.

I chose to misspell handy as other products use the same exact spelling…but some of the public will get confused. You don’t want that because as they hear the name on the street they need to be able to figure out the spelling especially in the internet age.

“I chose to misspell handy as other products use the same exact spelling…but some of the public will get confused.”

A handi is a deep, narrow-mouthed cooking vessel used in Pakistani and Indian cooking. There are many specific Pakistani and Indian dishes associated with the cooking utensil, such as “handi biryani,” on the basis that these dishes are generally prepared in handi.
http://www.kitchenware-manufacturers.com/handi.html

Playin’ the ’s advocate…

So…Generally speaking, someone of Pakistani and/or Indian decent may believe that
your product could be something that’s used to support the handi cooking vessel!?

“Playin’ the Devil’s [sic] advocate…”

Sir Edward’s favorite role.

I always just thought of handi’straps as an extension of my hands,but stronger as well as being a handy thing to have around :-)

Eddie just made me hungry.I love the way you go from one loving creature to the next Eddie :-)

Thanks Roger, I know I ALWAYS think of two names starting with the same letter because of watching the cartoons as a child.

Roger also just set some points to aim for on the naming game :-)

I can’t post a picture hahaha…someone else will have to do that ;-)

Anyone can have taglines if they like.

I can’t find an image of citilug but it makes me think of a man working in the city carrying a big murse(man purse) am I close?

You know- James Jenkins- Citilug. It’s a strap with holder so you can carry shopping bags hands free. Go to www.everydayedisons.com and click on Jame’s picture.

ahhhhhh…I saw it.

thanks Holly.
well, we have to rename something that already exists with a name, so why not?
:-)
first one that comes to mind with no thought is BagAbout…but I’ll keep going…remember the name AND domain has to be available.

Ron,

I wouldn’t sweat the name, look at Handi-Wrap. : )

Did you have luck with the wordlab site? I referred a couple of folks over there in the last couple of years, and they didn’t seem to get much feedback. In their defense, it was a request that probably didn’t evoke a lot of feeling, but I was wondering if they seemed to help more on those who offer the reward money or not…..it didn’t seem that way when I first came across that site.

I just recently started referring to my invention in the house by its new name, even though I got the domain name almost a year ago. I haven’t registered it yet, as I’m still stuck on my company name, so I figured I’d save some hourly expenses by waiting ‘til my ducks were in a row to start those wheels in motion and I really, really started to “feel” it (had a hard time letting go of my original name). It says what it does for certain, and I think that gets to the creative side of my brain as not creative enough, but it’s easy and I can picture it becoming the name for the item. Turned out the name I had been affectionately referring to it by for the last 3 years had a meaning of “collecting money”. I don’t even feel like I can run the new name by anybody in the know since I technically still can’t even talk about my product. @@ The company name I’m stuck on….the domain name is taken by a squatter it looks like, but it expires in May, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed…..if not, then on to choice B for a company name I suppose. I don’t think I want my company name the same as the product name because I’m hoping for more than one product in the end.

How about “The Shop Lifter” !

lol Patrice :-)it does lift shopping

I did have luck at wordlab Chris. Not by finding the exact name, but exposing my mind to random words helped me think. Some words I liked I would write down and try to add to them.

I Also made a list of words that describe the product and it’s function, then tried to mix some letters or words together. It doesn’t even have to be a real word, but it can sure sound like a cool name that catches people’s attention :-)

By the way godaddy is offering a promo of 10% off new purchases of domain names, good til 15 Feb. Just use source code fbDomain10 for the discount. Of course this translates to $1 off :-)

That’s good Tania. I used to go and read there, and not just the naming boards. I’m always impressed by folks who know so many “big” and “fancy” words. lol.

I didn’t like the CitiLug name either – the lug part just seemed to have the meaning you would want to avoid IMO. I don’t want to “lug” anything around, especially in a city living 3 flights up in an apartment, ya know? I can’t remember the name I thought up back then though right now or what the original name was…..but I have no formal experience, so what do I really know. lol.

You know what you like Chris…and as a consumer, that’s the number one vote!

yeah, the word ‘lug’ does make it sound heavy.

I also didn’t like the name CitiLug. To me, the name implies that it’s heavy and difficult to carry.

I’m having the same problem naming my invention, Tania. I wanted to come up with a fairly straight-forward name that defined what the item is. At the same time, I wanted to be able to register the name as a .com. Talk about difficult!

I registered the domain name for the best idea I could come up with to prevent anyone from doing so. It’s probably time for me to go back to the drawing board to see if I can come up with anything better.

Thanks for posting this question, Tania. If it wasn’t for you, I never would have gone back to see if the registration on my original name choice had expired. It did!!!

Not only do I have the .com, I registered the trademark, as well.

that’s great susan! :-)

Instead of Citilug how about Tote-ally?

Carry A-bout

Tote A-bout

E-Z Tote

This is fun!!

BusyBag – Handy Grips

Carry-All

Handy Clips

Bag Grab

The Bag Drag

Bag Grip

Shoulder Holder

Shopping Shoulder

Nifty-Lifty
Do-Hooky
Handy-Hands