One step in protection is to register your Internet domain name. Even if your Perfect Plumbing business doesn`t have a website yet, perfectplumbing.biz registration reserves your right to the online name. Otherwise, nothing prevents the other Perfect Plumbing from registering the name first. If you`ve registered your business name, you may be able to force your competitors to abandon a website that infringes on your trademark. However, a domain name in itself does not give you any trademark rights over your company name. After all this, if you find that your company name is not used by another company in your state or industry and has not been registered as a trademark by someone else, you can register that trademark yourself in your state and with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While this is not necessary, it does provide you with an extra layer of protection if your trademark claim is challenged. If you first use the company name, but the other company registered it first, you still have the right to use the name, but only in the market you were operating in at the time the other company registered the name. So they`re just a little screwed up together. In principle, you do not have the right to expand your market.
The company that registered the name at the federal level takes precedence everywhere else and may prevent you from using the trademark in new areas. So, it`s never too late to register your trademarks! Another consideration is the name first rule. If your company first used the name and registered the name first, you may have reasons to assert your legal right to the company name. If your company first marks the name as a trademark, you also get a greater right to use the name. Remember that the guiding principle of the brand is: „Don`t confuse the consumer.“ So, if it`s really unlikely that the other company`s customers will be confused because you have the same name, then there really isn`t a brand issue. One of the factors that the courts consider to determine the likelihood of confusion among customers is whether the two companies operate in the same sector. But what if you discover that another company in another state has the same or a similar name? Should you start the process of searching for a name again? If the other company is a traditional Florida-based marketing company that hasn`t done much business on the internet, then you`re probably less. You may be prohibited from performing marketing services in Florida. (Have you ever wondered why you can`t eat anywhere 40 miles south of Chicago at Burger King?) However, you can use the same name and offer marketing services anywhere else. May the Mozzers love it, welcome to another edition of Legal Mondays! I`m very happy to be back in town with all the systems. Before going on vacation in February, we looked at the basics of trademark law.
Today, we are building on the basics and moving on to sets of problems. Today`s topic is: How screwed am I? Another company has the same name as mine. Chances are, many of you will receive a nasty grief or threatening email from someone accusing you of harming their brand by copying their company`s name, slogan, or logo. In the online world, it`s only a matter of time. Declarations of cessation and abstention are omnipresent. After reading this article, you can assess your potential risk and react intelligently and professionally. Before entering the flesh of the article, I must make this disclaimer. This article is not legal advice and I am not your lawyer. I will give you information about the law. If you are facing a trademark issue, you should consult a qualified lawyer. I hope that after reading this article, you will know what kind of information you are collecting for your lawyer and what questions to ask. If, after looking at the two questions above, you have noticed that the other company shares your market, the first thing to do is to determine who used the company name.
Trademark rights are determined on a first-come, first-served basis. You want to be the first company to use the trademark so that you can establish yourself as a senior rights holder. If you used the company name before the other guy, you`re in good legal form (assuming you can prove it!). On the other hand, if the other guy used the company name first, then you`re pretty much. A graduate of Oberlin College, Fraser Sherman began writing in 1981. Since then, he has researched and written newspaper and magazine articles on municipal administration, legal proceedings, economics, real estate and finance, the use of new technologies and the history of cinema. Sherman worked as a journalist for more than a decade, and his magazine articles were published in „Newsweek,“ „Air & Space,“ „Backpacker,“ and „Boys` Life.“ Sherman is also the author of three film reference books, a fourth of which is currently in preparation. Note: If you are not yet ready to form or form your legal entity (such as an LLC or corporation) but wish to reserve your company name for future use, submitting a name reservation will prevent another company from forming in that state with that name for a period of time. All must not be lost. You can often use the same company name in your own state or another state if it is not in the state where the company name is registered and does not violate trademark rules. This is a common practice for small local businesses.
Before we go through the process of customizing a name or changing it completely, let`s take a closer look at the specifics of the business name, including what it means to have the same name as another company and how you can resolve this potential business conflict.