A United States trademark grants its owner the right to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark in connection with similar goods or services. The cost of a trademark application can vary considerably depending on the existence of any similar marks.

A non-disclosure or non-compete agreement is basically a contract between the employer and its employee where, for some valuable consideration (like a job and salary), the employee promises not to divulge any sensitive information learned during the course of employment or the employee promises not to go work for competitors for some period of time after the employment terminates.

If you have researched forming an LLC in New York, you probably ran into the state's little extortion scheme. New York requires all LLCs to file a Certificate of Publication within 120 days of formation or else lose said formation.