Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Re: business certificate

A d/b/a certificate is not intended to protect your trademark rights, but rather to protect the public by ensuring that users of names not their own can be identified. From your question, I assume that you have not registered the name as a trademark either at the state or federal level.

"Common law" trademark rights arise from your use of a trademark; federal rights apply from your first use in interstate commerce. If another person uses the same (or confusingly similar) trademark in the same kind of goods or services, then you would have a claim under state and/or federal law.

Best wishes,

LDWG

Re: business certificate

Assuming you have some protected right to the use of the name, you can send a cease and desist letter. However, you will need to prove your use pre-dated the existing use and that the name used by other will cause confusion.

The latter points are easier to deal with than the initial question that you have a right to the use of that name.

Please feel free to contact me without obligation to discuss your problem.

Re: business certificate

What kind of business entity is it; and have you registered it with the Secretary of State and/or registered to do business in the Commonwealth?

If not, what is the nature of the town business certificate you describe?

Assuming you have some legally protected rights to the business name, the first remedy would be an immediate cease and desist letter to the business wrongfully using your company name, under authority of the consumer protection statute. Failure to immediately stop representing themselves that way would then require seeking a preliminary injunction in Superior Court, for a court order compelling them to stop, if you can meet the very high legal burden necessary to obtain an injunction. Following that would be a lawsuit to collect any damages the misrepresentation caused you, and to recover your attorneys' fees under the consumer protection statute.

I have significant experience in this area, and just went through the very process I just described for a high tech busienss client. Contact me directly for a free initial consulatation to determine if you should proceed; and how and when.