Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Another company is using part of my name in theirs

We are an LLC founded in New Jersey on 5/1/04. Another company, in Australia, goes by a similar name.

I don't want to put the actual company names here, but here is an example of what I am talking about:

If my company name is Microsoft Solutions, theirs is MicrosoftHosting. The domains are similar too, with theirs being something like microsofthosting.com and ours being something like microsoftsolutions.com.

We are both in the same business - Web Hosting, domain registration, and Web design & development. I checked their domain name and it was registered in August of 2004, after my company had already been founded. My concern is that my Web site and service are similar in name to theirs. My domain name was registered on 7/17/02.

My question is this. Being that we are both in the same business, is there anything I can do, as long as I can prove that I have been around longer, to get them to both change their company name and stop using the domain name? I have not contacted them yet because I wanted to get some advice first. It looks like we are both small businesses at this point.

Any help that anyone could provide would be wonderful and much appreciated.


Asked on 2/01/05, 7:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Donald Cox Law Offices of Donald Cox, LLC

Re: Another company is using part of my name in theirs

Consider that even in the US there is no central database for clearing business names as a prerequisite to formation. Unless you researched your business name for conflicts prior to formation, other businesses may be operating in other states with a similar name to yours.

Domain Name disputes are generally directed at instances where a Domain Name conflicts with a registered Trademark, not a business name per se. In those instances, a prior owner of a Trademark may stop a Domain Name owner from using a domain name in commerce that is confusingly similar to the Trademark.

If you believe you have a situation similar to the one described above then you should consider meeting with an attorney to review this matter further. Although, as you indicated, if you and the other entity are small businesses, then it would seem that your money would be better invested getting the business going rather than pursuing legal action against a foreign-based small business competitor.

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Answered on 2/02/05, 12:17 am


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