If you discover another company with your name on it, the most common first step is to send a cease-and-desist letter to the other company. Writing a cease or desist letter correctly is essential to ensure that the other company complies with it. Both sources have the same objective of avoiding confusing similarities between companies and providing resources when such similarities cause harm. This means that you must demonstrate that your business and the other company that shares the name have very similar or related activities, and that the name causes confusion among customers. It's important to record your company's identity if you say something unique about your brand, such as your commitment to green companies.
This registration involves completing an application that asks questions such as the business purpose, the type of company, the state of incorporation and business contact information. The more similar the defendant's business is to yours and the more the defendant's trademark resembles yours in name, appearance, and logo, the more likely consumers are to be confused. The legal action to take depends on several factors, and a Michigan business attorney can help evaluate the situation and advise you accordingly. If you discover, through these two searches, that no one else is using your company name, you can do two things. A search on TESS will also show pending requests so you can see if another company is getting ahead of you.
Your brand is the identity of your company, so it's essential to protect it with a trademark, as it will prevent someone from misusing your company name or brand. Even if the two companies work in the same sector, there is not likely to be confusion between them if, given the nature of that sector, a consumer is unlikely to accidentally negotiate with one company when they intended to do so with the other. If you discover that another company or person is using your company name, you can file a civil lawsuit against them. In addition, they can demonstrate how it can affect your business by confusing customers about the association between your company and another entity that uses the same name. In the case of an unfair competition claim based on similar names, the objective is to prevent consumers from being confused with a name when buying a product or service that is not what they thought it was and, at the same time, to protect companies from losing customers as a result of this deceptive action. To determine if your company name is at risk, you must determine if your name or the first few words of your name are already in use.
