A good name is getting harder to find in the high-tech world.
The colossal growth of the computer industry, the Internet and the World Wide Web is making it difficult for companies to come up with fitting names for themselves and their products.
Companies are snapping up names containing the words "net," "link" and "web" for products and the applying for trademarks while the products are still in development.
Steven Jobs' Next Corp., for example, has trademarked the name WebPhone, but hasn't disclosed what it might be.
"We're looking at a name drain," says George Clark, an Austin attorney who specializes in intellectual property. "more computer companies means there are fewer names to choose from. People have had to be a lot more creative because a lot of times their first choices are taken."
Companies want names that are easily recognizable and describe what their products do. But with so many similar names - Netscape, NetCom, UUNet, for instance - the net result is a confused consumer.
"If it's too similar to someone else they might think of the other guy instead of you," Clark says.
The name grab is partly the result of a change in U.S. trademark law in 1989 that made it easier for companies to register for trademarks, industry experts say.
Companies can register trademarks before a product is formally released. Previously, the product had to be on the market before the company could apply for a trademark.
Computer companies have seized the opportunity. Since 1990, trademarks for scientific and computer-related products have been registered at almost twice the rates of all trademarks, according to a study by Master-McNeil, a Berkeley, Calif., company that helps companies name products.
That has forced companies to choose names for themselves and their products that have nothing to do with their functions, says S.B. Master, president of Master-McNeil.
"We get lots of calls from clients who say 'We put our 15 most creative people in a room and came up with a list of names, but nothing was available,'" Master says. "Naming used to be fun, but now it's more of a chore."
That's what Lyn Neshat of Austin found when she set out to incorporate her computer company through the Texas secretary of state two years ago. "We wanted the name Network Solutions, but it was already taken," she says. "It seemed like everything with a 'net' in it was taken."
Eventually, Neshat christened her company, which designs and installs computer networks, CompuNet Systems.
It was somewhat of a hassle." says Neshat, who spent about a week brainstorming. "you want the name to reflect who you are and what you do. And you don't want to have to change it if it doesn't work."
She's happy to have a name that combines two of the trendiest techie terms. "People think they've heard of us before even when they probably haven't," she says. "It's the 'compu' that sounds familiar."
It should. There are more than 20 listings in the Austin telephone book for companies with names beginning with "compu" and 38 more starting with "computer."
Although Neshat incorporated CompuNet Systems, that's no guarantee she will be able to get a trademark, which she plans to pursue next year.
So what makes a good name? It shouldn't limit a company to one type of technology, Master says. A company that puts "web" in its name may eventually want to expand beyond the World Wide Web.
Product names should convey what they do.
"Small companies don't have a lot of money to teach people about their product, and they need the name to tell people about it," Master says.
To avoid hunting for names, some companies are grouping products under one name rather than naming each product individually. Intuit, for example, has made Quicken the brand name for a line of financial software products.
That's the approach Austin-based Softex is taking. The company, which develops software for PowerPC computers, is in the process of registering for trademarks for three products: PowerDIAGS, PowerHAL and PowerROM.
"We think it will help people identify us," says Apurva Bhansali, president. "And it makes it a lot easier to name our products."
A good name is getting harder to find in the high-tech world.