Legal Question in Business Law in Wyoming

Re: Copyright Infringement

Generally speaking, it is okay for you to use a similar name as a company doing business in another state, at least with respect to the registration of that name with the WY Secretary of State. The trouble will arise if the other company has obtained federal protection of that name via a trademark or servicemark registration. Example: You want to name your company, Joe's Porta-Potties, Inc., and you know there is another Joe's Porta-Potties in NE, but it sells portable flowerpots, not portable toilets. Probably Okay. However, if you want to form your company that sells portable toilets and you want to name it Xerox or Microsoft, you're going to get some nasty letters from those companies' lawyers. The larger the company and more national its business is, the more likely the trade name will be trademarked, so be careful there. You can do an internet search on a possible name to see what's out there to give you some idea of the lay of the land. Hope that helps.