I have a company name that I actively use in the state of Illinios (an
Illinois bonafide Limited Liability Co., i.e., LLC.).  I would like to
be assured that this name can not be used anywhere by anyone in the
U.S. without my consent.  How do I go about reserving unique names or
even unique phrases i.e., I remember someone taking specific ownership
of the phrase "Three-Peat" when the Chicago Bulls were champions for
the third time, and whenever someone said this phrase they were paid a
sum of money.  Is this feasible to do? If so, how did they do this?
What is the specific procedure(s) to accomplish this please?

Hello its2die4,

At the outset, I should emphasize the disclaimer at the bottom of this
page, which notes that answers and comments on Google Answers are
general information, and are not substitutes for informed professional
legal advice.  I can provide information, but you should consult a
lawyer in Illinois if you want an expert legal opinion.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) indicates that
either a trademark or service mark (sometimes spelled "servicemark")
could serve your needs.  (The USPTO's home page for trademarks, as
well as service marks, is http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm .) 
According to the USPTO:

"A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade
with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them
from the goods of others.  A servicemark is the same as a trademark
except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service
rather than a product.  The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly
used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks.

Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a
confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the
same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly
different mark."

"What Are Patents, Trademarks, Servicemarks, and Copyrights?"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/whatis.htm

The USPTO has extensive information about trademarks and service
marks, and about how to register them.

"Basic Facts About Trademarks"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/

"Frequently Asked Questions About Trademarks"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm

"Chapter 1300: Examination of Different Types of Marks"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmep/1300.htm

If you wish to learn if there are any prior or current uses of similar
names to your company's name -- for similar goods or services, or
otherwise -- or about other words or phrases such as "Three-Peat", you
can search for the words on a USPTO database.

"Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)"
USPTO
http://tess.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk

Because the information on procedure is so extensive, I do not want to
mislead you by summarizing it.  Rather, I suggest that you read the
pages I have cited, and as noted before, consult a lawyer if you need
professional advice.  But if you cannot find a certain piece of
information on these pages, please let me know, and I'll clarify the
answer.

- justaskscott-ga


Search strategy:

Browsed USPTO, especially pages on trademarks.

Superior answer, exceeding my expectations! will continue to use
Google Answers forever with this sort of help at hand!!!