A business name is not necessarily a trademark. Merely using something as a business name does not count as “use in commerce” for a trademark. Business registration and/or internal use are not sufficient, either. To qualify as a use in commerce, the mark must appear on goods, labels, or in advertising that offer services to customers. A trademark for a product must be affixed to the product, the packaging, or set out in a tag or label that is connected to the product or the packaging in some way. In the case of a service mark, it must be set out in the sale, delivery, or advertising of the service.
A business name may qualify as a trademark if it is used in commerce as a trademark for a product or service and meets all of the other criteria for a valid trademark. APPLE , for example, is both the name of a business and a trademark for computers.