“Should I Trademark My Business Name?” If You’re Asking, You Already Know the Answer
A note from Nora. Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief:
Have you ever thought, “Should I trademark my business name?”—but convinced yourself, not yet?
Maybe you told yourself you’re not big enough. Or that you’ll deal with it “once things really take off.”
Many women entrepreneurs wait until they feel “legit” to get legal support—but Nicole Cheri Oden wants you to know: if your business is real, it’s worth protecting. In this empowering article, she reframes legal steps not as fear-based necessities, but as strategic, confidence-building decisions that support your long-term vision and legacy.
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Key Takeaways
- Legal protection isn’t about being “big enough”—it’s about taking yourself seriously from the start.
- Confidence and legacy both begin with protecting your work, not waiting to “deserve” it.
- Legal overwhelm often stems from lack of clarity, not complexity.
- Small legal steps (like clear contracts or trademark basics) can reduce risk and increase confidence.
- Your business is real the moment you decide it is—and that alone makes it worthy of protection.
Meet Our Contributor
Nicole Cheri Oden is an attorney and founder of Nicole Cheri Oden Law, PC, a virtual law firm that helps online business owners protect their work through accessible legal tools, strategic IP counsel, and no-nonsense education. With 13+ years of legal experience and a passion for helping women entrepreneurs build safely and confidently, she believes legal protection is a foundation—not a finish line.
Why It Matters to Her
After years of watching women wait too long to secure their businesses—often because of internalized doubt—she created this article to shift the narrative. Legal protection isn’t just smart. It’s power.
“At Nicole Cheri Oden Law, our mission is to stand beside women entrepreneurs—protecting the dreams they pour their hearts into. That’s exactly why I wrote Worthy of Protection—to remind you that the work you’re doing isn’t just powerful. It’s worth fiercely protecting,” Nicole writes to me.
Take Inspired Action
Choose one legal step you’ve been avoiding—whether it’s reviewing your client contract, researching trademarks, or just saying out loud, “This business is real.” Start there. You don’t need to do it all at once. You just need to start like it matters—because it does.
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