Can I Have a Similar Business Name

The second consideration is trademark law, and the legal test that exists is the name you want to use in a confusing way, similar to someone else`s in your industry or space. There`s a similar test for very big brands, and that said, would anyone think you`re somehow connected to them? Mercedes is a great example of this. If you went out to a restaurant called Mercedes Hamburgers, the Mercedes car company might raise objections because it is subject to the brand`s dilution doctrine. People may be thinking, “Well, I wonder if the Mercedes Hamburg restaurant is related to the car manufacturer Mercedes?” Or people think, “Ah, I don`t think Mercedes is really high quality anymore because I had these burgers.” This begins to diminish their brand awareness or their impression of the Mercedes car brand in their minds. All this is under dilution of the brand. In addition to reviewing the federal trademark database, it`s also a good idea to check your state`s trademark database. It is often the case that a small business only needs trademark protection in its State of origin. For this reason, many small businesses do not apply for federal trademark protection. To do business under a DBA name, you must complete and file the appropriate DBA forms and pay a filing fee. Depending on the state, you may be able to apply to a local or district civil service office, a state agency, or both. Our answer, of course, would be that a frog comic book hero is so far removed from the cleaning clothing industry, and I think we most likely deserve credit.

However, this would essentially have required a lawsuit or official act with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and therefore the costs may be associated with predominance. Even if there is no real confusion, you need to prove that there is no confusion in the market. So, when choosing a name, it is better to choose a name that does not look like someone who is already on the market. To learn more, watch the other videos here or visit aaronhall.com. 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! The issue that recently had to be decided by the Administrative Appeal Tribunal in G C Swinburne and F J McFarlane and Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Child Psychology Services Pty Ltd (Joined Party) [2014] AATA 602 is whether the provision is the only test for determining whether two company names are identical or substantially identical. or if there is room for further evaluation.

In a decision of August 26, 2014, the AAT decided that the disposition test should not be the exclusive consideration, but only part of the assessment process. However, you will still need to check the availability of the name of the company you have chosen. After all, you don`t want to start a business under one name just to get another business and force yourself to stop using it. Checking the availability of business names is crucial to starting your business. This is true whether it is the legal name of your company or a fictitious name. You`ve found that someone else is using a similar business name to yours. What are you doing? While there is an extensive law on cases where two marks are too similar to coexist, the equivalent consideration under the Trade Names Registration Act 2011 was more mysterious. However, keep in mind that another company can still sue you for trademark infringement, even if your infringement is not intentional. For this reason, it is essential to conduct a thorough search for company names.

For companies operating in different states, this may or may not be a problem. If you have chosen a name used by an out-of-state business, consider the following before proceeding with the name. If the name of another local company, LP or LLC is the same or very similar to yours, you should return to the drawing board. Let`s go back to trademark counterfeiting. If a name is similar to your industry or domain, you won`t be able to use it. This is a trademark infringement. You may be wondering what is confusingly similar? Who decides that? Well, it is considered a statement of fact. In other words, a jury, if there is a jury in a trial, would consider it. Or, if you don`t have a jury and you have a judge, will the judge decide if it`s confusingly similar? And if I`ve negotiated cases like this, if I`m trying to show that it`s confusingly similar, I`ll tell my client arguing that someone else`s brand is similar, I`m going to say, “Customer, keep a log of all the calls you receive where they don`t know if you`re yourself or this other company, that uses a similar name. So this is an example of how you can provide evidence that customers are actually confusing two separate companies.