Pick a name that hints at the one job your AI product does, that people can spell after hearing it once, and that doesn't borrow a model brand like GPT or Claude. Then, before you buy anything, run a free knockout check: the USPTO trademark database, WIPO's Global Brand Database, EUIPO's TMview, domains and handles, and what Google and AI assistants already say about the word. It takes a weekend or two, and it's far cheaper than renaming after launch. Below: the process, a made-up example, a scoring sheet, and when to pay a trademark attorney. Practical founder advice, not legal advice.
Why the name matters more than it used to
You used to be able to ship under a placeholder and rename at 100 users. Now your name gets copied into places you don't control almost on day one: directory listings, launch posts, reviews, app store pages, GitHub, Reddit threads, and the text AI assistants learn from. Every one of those points at the old name once you change it.
Google's guide to moving a site to a new domain says to keep redirects "generally at least 1 year" so signals can move to the new URLs. That's a year of upkeep for a choice you could have tested over a weekend.
There's a newer cost too. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity for "a tool that does X," the assistant has to tell your product apart from everything with a similar name. We covered the wider version of this in getting your startup cited in AI search answers, and it starts with being the only thing called what you're called.
The running example (made-up)
Mendwell is an illustrative, made-up product, and every name, number, and search result for it below is made up too. I haven't run a real clearance on any of these names, so treat them as placeholders, not suggestions.
The setup: a solo founder builds an AI tool that drafts replies to App Store and Google Play reviews for indie app developers. The codename in the repo is "ReviewGPT." You can probably guess where that's going.
What a good AI product name does
It hints at the one job, not the whole feature list. If you can't say the job in a sentence, fix that first. A one-page positioning brief gets you that sentence and makes the naming list much shorter.
People can spell it after hearing it once. Early growth is word of mouth, podcasts, and calls. If a listener types it wrong, they find someone else.
It isn't "AI" plus a generic noun. Task-plus-AI names (think "Reply AI" or "Summary AI") blur together in search, in directories, and in an assistant's answer.
It leans suggestive, not descriptive. This one is about the law as much as marketing.
The USPTO's page on strong trademarks explains it well. Strong marks are fanciful (invented words), arbitrary (like Apple for computers), or suggestive (hinting at a quality without stating it). Weak marks are descriptive or generic, and the page says they "are hard to protect against competitors and often are not federally registrable." It also tells you to consider "whether the public will remember, pronounce, and spell your trademark."
That's the tension. "AI Review Replies" says exactly what it does, which is why you probably can't own it. "Mendwell" hints at fixing things with a reviewer without describing the product. Suggestive names sit in the sweet spot.
The model-brand trap: GPT, Claude, and friends
This one is easy to fall into, so it gets its own section. Putting the model's brand in your name feels natural when you build on it. The providers say no.
OpenAI's brand guidelines say that if you use their models, "you may choose to reference a specific model but be precise and accurate." But: "We do not permit model names in app titles because there is concern that it confuses end users. It also triggers our enforcement mechanisms." The same paragraph adds, "we do not permit our GPT brand to be used in app, product, developer or company names."
Anthropic's trademark guidelines say you may only use its trademarks "as specifically permitted," and not in a way that implies sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation. Its Claude Code legal and compliance page spells it out: you can say in plain text that your product runs Claude Code, but you can't use the Claude Code or Anthropic names "as part of your own product, feature, or company name." On another provider? Find its brand or trademark page and read it before you name anything.
The practical rule: the model goes in your description, accurately, never in your name. You'll probably switch models at least once anyway, and a name welded to one provider makes that awkward. So our founder kills "ReviewGPT" before testing anything else.
Step 1: Brainstorm a long list (aim for 40+)
The first five names you think of are the ones everyone else thought of too. Give it an hour and pull from different directions:
Verbs of the job: mend, answer, soothe, tend, settle.
The result for the user: calmer inbox, better rating, a reviewer who comes back.
Metaphors from elsewhere: gardening, tailoring, letter writing, hospitality.
Blends and arbitrary words: two short words pushed together, or a word you like that has nothing to do with reviews.
Asking an AI assistant is fine as a warm-up, but expect the same Pilot, Genie, and AI-suffix names it gave the last thousand founders. Our made-up founder ends up with 46 names in a doc.
Step 2: Shortlist with hard rules
Cut fast, without arguing with yourself. Remove any name that:
Contains a model or provider brand.
Is "AI" plus a generic noun, or a plain description of the product.
Needs spelling out to be found ("it's K-W-I-K").
Only makes sense for one feature you might drop.
Means something awkward in a market you plan to sell in. The USPTO strong-trademarks page flags translation for this reason.
Keep five to eight. Our example shortlist includes ReplyPilot, Kwikreply, Starling, and Mendwell.
Step 3: The say-it-out-loud test with 5 people
Find five people who don't know the project and send each a voice note: "I'm building a tool called [name]. Can you type the name back to me and tell me what you think it does?"
If two or more of the five misspell it, it'll fail on podcasts and calls too. For the guess, you don't need them to nail the product. You want the right neighbourhood, not a confident wrong answer.
In our made-up run, one person in five typed Kwikreply correctly. Starling was spelled fine, but the guesses were "a bank?" and "a bird app?" Mendwell got four of five on spelling and guesses like "something that fixes things." Good enough to move on.
Step 4: Run a trademark knockout search
A knockout search is a quick, free pass to throw out names that are obviously taken. It isn't a full clearance and doesn't make a name safe.
Read the USPTO's page on likelihood of confusion first, because it tells you what to look for. Marks "don't have to be identical to be confusingly similar." They can be similar in sound, appearance, or meaning, and what matters is whether the goods or services are related. The page calls this "the most common reason for refusing registration." So "Mend Well" is a hit for Mendwell, and the same name on paint worries you less than the same name on software.
Then search these free tools (as of October 2026):
USPTO Trademark Search, the system that replaced TESS, for US registered and pending marks. Try close spellings and the name split into words.
WIPO Global Brand Database, covering international marks under the Madrid System and trademarks from participating national and regional offices. WIPO notes it may be prudent to search national registers too.
EUIPO TMview, which EUIPO says covers all EU national IP offices, the EUIPO, and many offices outside the EU.
Your own country's trademark office, if you're outside the US and EU.
Focus on software classes. In the current Nice Classification (edition 13-2026), Class 42 listing includes software as a service and providing online non-downloadable software, and Class 9 includes downloadable software applications. Most AI tools sit in 42, plus 9 if there's an app or download. The USPTO's coordinated class list treats 9 and 42 as related, so a hit in either counts.
The USPTO's guide to a comprehensive clearance search also recommends searching the internet for unregistered "common-law" use, plus state registries and domain registrations. A related USPTO page notes the examiner only checks the federal database. The rest is on you.
In our made-up run, ReplyPilot turned up several "pilot" marks for software in Classes 9 and 42, plus a live product with nearly the same name. Gone. Mendwell showed nothing close in software. That doesn't clear it. It earns the next step.
Step 5: Check domains, handles, stores, and directories
Domains: the .com, plus your fallback (.ai, .app, .io). If the .com is taken, open it. A parked page is one thing. A live company in your space is a stop sign.
Social handles on the two or three networks your buyers actually use.
App stores: our example sells to app developers, so a same-name app would confuse exactly the right people.
GitHub and package registries if you ship an SDK, CLI, or extension.
Product Hunt and launch directories: a same-name launch from last year will sit next to yours in search for a long time.
Step 6: See what search and AI assistants say today
Search the name alone, then with your category ("Mendwell app"). Then ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and whatever assistant your buyers use: "What is Mendwell?" Nothing much is great, because you get to define the word. Something small and unrelated is usually fine. A confident answer about a different product is the one to worry about, because every answer about your name will start with someone else.
Screenshot what you find, with the date.
Step 7: Score it and decide
Put the survivors in one table. Here's the made-up example. Copy the columns, not the verdicts.
Name (all made up) | Hints at the job? | Spelled right (of 5) | Trademark knockout | Domains and handles | Search and AI answers | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ReviewGPT | Yes | Not tested | Breaks OpenAI's naming rule | Not checked | Not checked | Cut at Step 2 |
Kwikreply | Yes | 1 | Sound-alike marks | .com available | Quiet | Cut: fails spelling |
Starling | No | 5 | Many marks across classes | .com taken | Banks, birds, other apps | Cut: too crowded |
ReplyPilot | Yes | 5 | Similar marks in 9 and 42 | .com is a live product | Describes another tool | Cut: conflict risk |
Mendwell | Hints | 4 | Nothing close in software | .com parked, .app free | Nothing confident | Pick, then attorney search |
The winner isn't perfect: the .com is parked. That's normal. You want the name with no hard stops, not the one with no compromises.
When to pay a trademark attorney
The free knockout throws names out. Deciding a name is safe to build on is a different job. The USPTO's page on hiring a U.S.-licensed attorney says an attorney can run a comprehensive clearance search and give a legal opinion, and that foreign-domiciled applicants must be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney. US-based applicants aren't required to hire one, though the USPTO strongly encourages it.
My rough rule: pay for it if your knockout found anything close and you still like the name, if you're about to spend real money on it (premium domain, paid launch, funding round), if you sell to companies with legal teams, if you'll sell in several countries early, or if you're outside the US and want a US filing. Ask for a search and opinion on your top one or two names.
Filing it yourself, and what it costs
Not legal advice, just official numbers for planning. As of October 2026, the USPTO's page on trademark costs lists a base application fee of $350 per class, so filing in Classes 9 and 42 starts at $700. The fee schedule adds per-class surcharges in some cases, like $100 for insufficient information or $200 for using the free-form text box instead of the ID Manual. Keeping a registration alive means a declaration of use and renewal every 10 years, which the page puts at $650 per class.
Not launched yet? The USPTO has an intent-to-use basis for marks you genuinely plan to use, with extra filings and fees later. Recheck fees the day you file. Outside the US, your national office has its own fees and process.
Traps that keep catching AI founders
Misspelled on purpose. Dropping vowels makes the domain cheap and word of mouth expensive. And since confusion is judged on sound too, a creative spelling won't save you from a mark that sounds the same.
Named after one model or feature. Models get replaced and features get cut. If the name only fits v1, you'll rename in a year.
.ai with no fallback. IANA's root database lists .ai as Anguilla's country-code domain. If someone in your category holds the .com, some of your word of mouth lands on their site.
Same name as a funded competitor in your class. Even if you got there first, you don't want that argument with someone who has a legal budget.
A purely descriptive name. Easy to understand, nearly impossible to own, invisible in search.
If you already picked badly
It's fixable, and earlier is cheaper. Don't wait for the email.
Run Steps 1 to 7 for the new name before announcing anything.
Move with permanent (301) redirects, page by page, and file a Change of Address in Google Search Console if the domain changes. Google says keep redirects generally at least a year, and consider keeping them indefinitely for users.
Add a "formerly OldName" line to your homepage, docs, and store listing for a few months so people and assistants connect the two.
Update every listing you control: directories, launch pages, bios, GitHub.
Email users once, plainly: what changed, why, and that nothing else did.
The new name should sit next to one clear promise on your homepage. If that page changes weekly while you find fit, here's how to handle writing a landing page when your product changes weekly without losing the top line.
The naming sprint checklist
The core fits in one weekend. Fourteen days is more realistic if you're waiting on friends and an attorney.
Day 1: Write the one-job sentence. Brainstorm 40+ names.
Day 2: Shortlist to five to eight. Kill anything with a model brand.
Days 3 to 4: Voice-note test with five people.
Day 5: Knockout search: USPTO, WIPO Global Brand Database, TMview, your national office. Classes 9 and 42.
Day 6: Domains, handles, app stores, GitHub, Product Hunt.
Day 7: Google plus two or three AI assistants. Dated screenshots.
Day 8: Fill in the scoring table. Pick a first choice and a backup.
Days 9 to 13: Attorney clearance search and opinion, if the rules above say so.
Day 14: Buy domains, claim handles, rename the repo, decide whether and where to file.
FAQ
Do I need a registered trademark before I launch?
Not necessarily. The USPTO's clearance guide notes that common-law rights come from actually using a mark in commerce, so registration isn't the only thing that counts, for you or for anyone you might clash with. What you need before launch is reasonable confidence you're not stepping on someone else's mark, which is what the knockout and, where it makes sense, an attorney's clearance search are for. When to file is a separate call, worth a short talk with an attorney.
Can I put "AI" in my product name?
Nothing in the pages I checked forbids it. The problem is practical. "AI" plus a generic word is descriptive, which the USPTO says makes a mark weak, and it drops you into a crowd of near-identical names. If you use it, pair it with a distinctive word that does the real work.
Is a .ai domain enough?
It can be, if nobody confusing holds the .com. If the .com belongs to a company in your space, pick a different name rather than hoping people type carefully.
What if the same name exists in another country or industry?
The USPTO's test is whether the marks are confusingly similar and the goods or services related, which is how unrelated businesses can share a word. A same-name business selling something unrelated is often survivable. A same-name software product where you plan to sell usually isn't. That's exactly the call to hand to an attorney.
Once your name passes all seven steps, you can list your AI product on EarlyHunt and start building search history under the name you'll actually keep.