IS there any wya for you to know if a name has been copy wrtitten yet. Like befor you think about going trhough that long process?
You are actually talking about Trademarks and not copyright. A trademark is when companies and business trademark their names. You can take a look at the Wikipedia article and this might be helpful
I would try reading the trademark book by nolo. Trademark deals with names while copyright deals with original material which includes art, banners, logos, and coding/programing.