what to do when you come across a business with the same name as yours?

[3Deep]

Heck I looked everywhee to make sure we are the only 3 Deep Screenprinting biz, but after a few years I started seeing 3 Deep popup...someone even swipe our name for there email address.  I don't worry we,ve been 3 Deep so long I can't remember, but if I see 3 deep and our logo being used, I,m getting hpyer our logo is custom shoudn't be nothng like in the world.  Now I,ve seen some others copy us or just coincident 3 c's, 3 g's which is my own town and I know they got that from us.  Can't sue anyone for using 3 Deep but can sue if they use my logo...Shawn I wouldn't sweat it.

Darryl

[mk162]

Funny that we are the only Repla Prints I know of, yet Repla.com was taken...by a company that sells door locks and access control keypads.  Strange as heck since that isn't the name of their company...

nevermind, now it is a gluten free

[Frog]

Did you look into the owner there being named Alper also?

[mk162]

No, they might be, it's actually Alpers, but Srepla Prints sounds funny.  There aren't too many other Alpers around.  I'm related to a good bit of them.

I tried emailing them and it bounces back.

[ZooCity]

States have their different ways of handling registered business names. As Frog's pointed out Cali does it by county, here in MT we go by the whole state.  But none of that does much for you federally.  If you really want to hold down your business name you need to trademark it.  It costs around 500-1000 to do it right with a good IP lawyer and you'll need to brand a little more heavily once you do but then it yours to protect (at your cost).  In a case like this you'd send a simple cease and desist and that would probably do it. 

The real question is- how important is your business name to your business?   A lot of us are guilty of working "in" our companies rather than "on" them and many of our clients are seeing the business as ourselves more than any logo or name.  That's okay for a smaller operation and in cases like that there's little need to worry much about the business name but if you want to leave the company at any point and have it continue to operate and be healthy you better start branding it and protecting that brand from dilution. 

[RICK STEFANICK]

How about the possibility that no search was ever done and some one else just came up with the same name? across state lines there is not much you can do. if you incorporate in your state you have a leg to stand on with anyone who uses it in the state. although in alot of cases states will incorporate with only slight changes in the name or spelling.

[Donnie]

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"