Unregistered Trademark Name Of My Business

pbeeson

I have a roofing business, King Construction,Inc. ,,hired 2 brothers to help me out 6 months ago(previously a car salesman), didn't get along with in the business world together, parted ways and now he is starting King Brothers Construction doing the same line of work as me in the same city doing what I trained them to do. Some brother huh! Been in business 6 years, spent thousands of dollars on advertising over the last few years and feel they are going to confuse alot of people and try to capitalize on what I have worked for the last 6-7years. What is the best course of action? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I don't want to go to court, but I think it is heading there.

PressurePros

If your name is trademarked, you may have a case but then again, their name is different and if they are actually the "King" brothers there is not much you are going to be able to do.

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Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

dougchips

Google King Construction, everyone owns one.

GPI

If you feel they have broken some law with regards to knowing some of your trade secrets( pricing, customers, suppliers pricing ,systems etc..) and they are bidding jobs against you and bending you over a barrel, id sue their pants off and let the cards fall where they may,. Just my opinion, but if your brother was car salesmen, it would make more sense for him to open a car lot. Just the suit alone may put him out of business, but for sure, it would show up on his credit report, personally and a Dunn & Bradstreet professionally.
Good luck

AaronB.

No matter the conditions, if youre not trademarked, in IL, two competitors can use the samed name...stupid, to do, but is legal.

__________________
http://www.roseroofing.net/
Seamless Industrial and Commercial Roofing Systems, Residential Repair. For Those That Demand Quality!
Free roof inspections within 12 miles of our locale.

dougchips

http://yellowpages.superpages.com/li...nstruction&&S= 282 results on 411.com for king construction. 709 for smith construction. only 6 for my last name. Branding starts with a unique name.

Ed the Roofer

In Illinois, if you are a sole proprietor, then you should have registered your company name with the county registrars office. Similar, yet not exactly the same name is legally ok to do.

But, McDonalds, which has trademarked and/or copyrighted their name has sued other non-competing business for infringement. I recal a port-o-potty company called McDonalds, being the source of one of their infringement claims.

Ed

AaronB.

I, indeed, am in Illinois, and am registered. This does not stop anyone from using the same name as mine. I am not trademarked.

__________________
http://www.roseroofing.net/
Seamless Industrial and Commercial Roofing Systems, Residential Repair. For Those That Demand Quality!
Free roof inspections within 12 miles of our locale.

GPI

Another thing to consider,
Service Mark, and trademark are different animals.
Contact your Sec.Of State to see if your brother is registered and licenced in the state.

Ed the Roofer

I am not 100 % sure, but I was led to believe that at least in your own county, that someone else can not exactly duplicate you companies name. I may be mistaken. I'l ask the next time I am down there for an unincorporated jobs permit.

Ed

AaronB.

What county are you in? DuPage?

__________________
http://www.roseroofing.net/
Seamless Industrial and Commercial Roofing Systems, Residential Repair. For Those That Demand Quality!
Free roof inspections within 12 miles of our locale.

Ed the Roofer

Kane County bordering on Cook. The far East side of Elgin is Cook and just East of East Dundee,(where Santas Village was), also is Cook. Most, (99 %) of my work is done immediately local and in Kane County. My office and shop are in Carpentersvile, right nest door to East Dundee.

Ed

Grumpy

There is a company called Allendorfer roofing, then there is a company called B.Allendorfer roofing. I don't know the detailes behind that one but I can speculate family parted ways in the company business.

I had a similiar problem hen I owned a web design firm. I had a unique name and then when i set up shop on the internet I noticed quite a few popped up with very very similiar names. There was nothign I could do, but I learned alot. A trademark does not need to be registered to be legally enforceable, BUT by registering you are making it much easier to enforce.

Also it's damned near impossible to enforce a trademark on a name so common as "king construction". That'd be like starting a company called "The, Inc." then trying to sue anyone who uses the word "the" in their company name.

Why do you have a "roofing" business claled King "construction"? Why not "King Roofing"?

You can do like my above example and put a tag at the bottom of all your advertising "not affiliated with B.Allendorfer roofing". Kinda humurous if you ask me. Personally if I was in your brother's position (or allendorfer's) I would want to set out and build my own brand because if I am tryign to spite my brother it will sting more becoming successful on my own merit rather than riding your coat tails to success.

This is also why I do not mix family and business! See my reply: http://www.contractortalk.com/showpo...8&postcount=12

Grumpy

Aaron, actually your business model does offer you some level of protection. You are registered with the county as an assumed D/B/A? If so nobody can use your exact company name. However add a few words or take a few words away from your company name and you are fair game. Same thing holds true for corporations and LLC's. That's why trade/service marking is important.