dallik
08-19-2008, 01:48 AM
Hi, and thank you for the time taken to read my message. This is my first post in the forums, and I found your site through google a few minutes ago.
I am not really a "franchise" but I could not find an area that I though was appropriate to place a question about a trademark dilemma for a start-up small business, so here goes.
I have been working for the past 9 months designing and developing a handful of new products for a particular sport. I did all of the legal things that an average-joe such as myself could think of legally. I filed for my DBA in california and everything was approved and finalized, I am now legally able to do business under my chosen business name in los angeles county. Since then, I have gotten provisional patents under my company name, my sellers permit, IRS number, and have built a pretty nice website (with a basic webstore) and there is a tremendous amount of buzz in the demographic that I'm hoping to cater too with my products. My stuff is now a few weeks away from being manufactured.
I have the .com, .net, and .org domain names for my company name secured and all link to my site which has gotten 70,000 page views in 4 months.
Then,.. it happens.
Months back when I originally looked for any online companies with the name I wanted, I found none in any search engine. I stumbled upon someone who had "locked down" the exact domain name .com that is the exact name of my company, so I got the .net and .org of it. The page was completely and entirely blank. And it was confirmed to me by a company that I had check into it, that the page had not been accessed or editted in an entire year since it was first purchased, nobody had even logged into that blank page. So I think nothing of it.
I have since done all of the above mentioned legal things moving my company closer to releasing it's product.
Two nights ago, I go to that page again, and there is now the same name that I use up on the page as well as a logo with a "tm" next too it. There are no links anywhere on the page, though there is text there saying that their company is developing products, and that "someone" out there is using their company name, and it is costing them money, so now they are in the process of getting their name trademarked so that nobody else can use it.
My questions are this:
- If my company has been established, had a junkload of traffic for months and months before this "new" site ever posted anything, I actually have product that is about to hit the market, AND all of my DBA papers and legal papers were all approved before any of this, does their trademark apply to me if all of my legal stuff has been going on before theirs?
- I was told when I was applying for my DBA that though I am now registered as my company's name in Los Angeles county, someone in the next county can legally use my chosen name and it's not illegal. Why then would I suddenly not be able to use my company name that I've legally been approved for months ago if these guys get a trademark now?
- What can I do? I don't know if they are bluffing, trying to just do the whole ".com" thing and scare me into contacting them to buy the domain name, or if they actually have stuff they are making. It's hard to believe because the domain was not accessed for an entire year until my company popped online and posted that we were about to start manufacturing, then overnight BAM, they have a 1 page website.
I just got my small business loan finally approved, and am going next week to go to the machine shops to get my parts made, and then this happens.
Is there any hope for me?
I am not really a "franchise" but I could not find an area that I though was appropriate to place a question about a trademark dilemma for a start-up small business, so here goes.
I have been working for the past 9 months designing and developing a handful of new products for a particular sport. I did all of the legal things that an average-joe such as myself could think of legally. I filed for my DBA in california and everything was approved and finalized, I am now legally able to do business under my chosen business name in los angeles county. Since then, I have gotten provisional patents under my company name, my sellers permit, IRS number, and have built a pretty nice website (with a basic webstore) and there is a tremendous amount of buzz in the demographic that I'm hoping to cater too with my products. My stuff is now a few weeks away from being manufactured.
I have the .com, .net, and .org domain names for my company name secured and all link to my site which has gotten 70,000 page views in 4 months.
Then,.. it happens.
Months back when I originally looked for any online companies with the name I wanted, I found none in any search engine. I stumbled upon someone who had "locked down" the exact domain name .com that is the exact name of my company, so I got the .net and .org of it. The page was completely and entirely blank. And it was confirmed to me by a company that I had check into it, that the page had not been accessed or editted in an entire year since it was first purchased, nobody had even logged into that blank page. So I think nothing of it.
I have since done all of the above mentioned legal things moving my company closer to releasing it's product.
Two nights ago, I go to that page again, and there is now the same name that I use up on the page as well as a logo with a "tm" next too it. There are no links anywhere on the page, though there is text there saying that their company is developing products, and that "someone" out there is using their company name, and it is costing them money, so now they are in the process of getting their name trademarked so that nobody else can use it.
My questions are this:
- If my company has been established, had a junkload of traffic for months and months before this "new" site ever posted anything, I actually have product that is about to hit the market, AND all of my DBA papers and legal papers were all approved before any of this, does their trademark apply to me if all of my legal stuff has been going on before theirs?
- I was told when I was applying for my DBA that though I am now registered as my company's name in Los Angeles county, someone in the next county can legally use my chosen name and it's not illegal. Why then would I suddenly not be able to use my company name that I've legally been approved for months ago if these guys get a trademark now?
- What can I do? I don't know if they are bluffing, trying to just do the whole ".com" thing and scare me into contacting them to buy the domain name, or if they actually have stuff they are making. It's hard to believe because the domain was not accessed for an entire year until my company popped online and posted that we were about to start manufacturing, then overnight BAM, they have a 1 page website.
I just got my small business loan finally approved, and am going next week to go to the machine shops to get my parts made, and then this happens.
Is there any hope for me?