Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Name used for my online ''business''

I am a writer. I plan to use my website with it's domain name (which I know is not for copyright) as a ''group'' of writers, which refers to all the AKA names I use when published. Samples of my writing in various genres under those various aliases will be displayed on the site and contact info will be available, so that I may be offered projects for any of those incarnations of ''me''. I want the name I use for this group to be protected, so nobody can pretend to be all these versions of me that is known under that umbrella name. Since your site asks that I not use names, let's call that group XGroup. Is there a way to protect the name, XGroup? Should I obtain a ''Doing Business'' permission in New York State? I'm not exactly doing business under that name. Thanks for any help you can give!!!


Asked on 6/08/05, 8:18 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Kaiser Wahab Wahab & Medenica LLC

Re: Name used for my online ''business''

You are correct in stating that you do not copyright titles and or domain names. Based on what I can gather about your needs, you should be looking at trademark protection for your site's domain name. Critical to a successful federal trademark registration are the following 1) a real use of the domain name in "commerce" or a demonstratable future use that you intend to commence within 90 days of filing; 2) a real sense of the goods and services offered (here you at least have promotional services); and 3) a real sense of competing uses of the domain name for similar purposes (this is is usually gleaned from hiring a reputable 3rd party search company).

I hope that you find this useful.

Best,

Kaiser

You can find out more about trademark law in general at the USPTO website www.uspto.gov.

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Answered on 6/08/05, 8:32 am
Meyer Silber The Silber Law Firm, LLC

Re: Name used for my online ''business''

You would protect your name by filing for trademark registration. That, coupled with regular use, will be strong protection. However, not every name can be trademarked. Please look at www.thesilberlawfirm.com for more details.

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Answered on 6/08/05, 8:58 am


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