3 ms·

Have you talked to someone about the trademark? Do you know if you are actually likely to be infringing? There are tests that are applied. Also, simply having

• calebhicks 15y ago
  Actually, they do not even own the companyname.com. A domain squatter does. Presumably, they can't use it because this company has targeted them before with their trademark lawyers. One lawyer has said that we are definitely infringing, while another said that there may be some leeway. However, the trademark holder is in the exact same market as us. So many of the limitations you mentioned don't affect his ability to defend against us.
  • abuzzooz 15y ago
    if you haven't launched yet, why not change your name? I understand that there are costs involved, but did you quantify those costs and see if it's possible or not? You don't have to redo everything at once.
    • calebhicks 15y ago
      I can certainly change the name, even at this point, but that would take up a significant amount of the cash left in the business. That'd leave little for the client acquisition push we were about to embark on. If I were to take on the project myself, I would be willing to put in more cash for that purpose. But I worry about my cofounders claim to half of the business, and risking more of my own money when he technically has the right to half of the reward.
      • deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
  • rosenjon 15y ago
    I'm not a lawyer, but I have done a lot of trademark research for my own business, and I can tell you that you're definitely infringing. The bright line standard for trademark lawsuits is essentially "would a reasonable person mistake your brand for your competitors?". In this case, based on what you have said here, you have taken your competitors name, and added "my" in front of it. So most reasonable people would conclude that it is highly likely someone will mistake your competitors brand for yours. If you were in a completely different industry than the similarly named company, then there would be some wiggle room, because you could argue that even if someone was initially confused about the two companies, there is no possibility for them to buy your product thinking it was the competitors. However, you are in the exact same industry, so the likely conclusion is that the customer will be confused and likely to buy your product thinking its your competitors. Unfortunately, the domain name issue is irrelevant in the face of trademark law. In fact, as has happened with many other infringement suits, it is likely that if you lost the lawsuit, you would be forced to transfer the domain to your competitor.
    • calebhicks 15y ago
      You're absolutely right. I don't contest that we are infringing. For the record, we didn't know anything about his business when we chose our name. We merely saw that 'companyname.com' was taken but not used. We assumed (you know what they say about assumptions) that meant we could go with 'mycompanyname.com' and be fine. Had we known about his trademarked business beforehand, we wouldn't have done so. Thank you for shedding more light on the trademark situation.
      • innernette 15y ago
        I don't contest that we are infringing. This is not legal advice, just common sense: be careful what you admit online! In some cases, willful use of someone's trademark may entitle them to punitive damages or lost profits.
        • calebhicks 15y ago
          I didn't know that I was infringing until he notified me. But after doing the research, I am quite certain that I am. I definitely plan on making the necessary adjustments.
  • astrec 15y ago
    Rebrand. Your defence is tenuous and fight isn't worth the distraction.