Corporate name similarity question

[e36bmw///]

mb

[dannie]

Nope. Not without consent from that owner. Even then, the name would need to be changed somewhow.

[e36bmw///]

0p

[dj_rice]

Add an S.


Blue Rocks.

[Mibz]

You're gonna have to do a NUANS report anyway. They're like $20 and can be done online in 5 minutes.

I wouldn't bother with the first one, but then again my company was one letter off an existing one and they let me have it :P

[dannie]

As long as theres is more of a descriptor, you can use it. Adding paving, will do that. However, whoever runs the name report should note the similarities. If the original guy finds out you're using a name that's super similar, he has the right to request you cease using the name.

[e36bmw///]

cv

[Mibz]

Originally posted by e36bmw///
Fair enough

But what about a company that just has Bluerock, Inc?

Can they go after anyone that has a similar name, even with a descriptor?

What if one company deals with asphalt mixing, while the other in paving?

Does it matter what the company does?

That's probably fine.
They can go after whoever they want, it's what the courts decide that matters.
That might be too similar, but I'm not an expert.
Yes. Two companies with similar names but that do nothing remotely related to each other should be allowed from what I read.

Again, your best bet is to just pick the name you want, run a NUANS report and see what it says.

[dannie]

Mibz is correct. It's up to the court. You have to determine if the risk is worth it. The other side too, is that you wouldn't wanna name your company and have the other company start to give yours a bad name. (ie: not paying bills, unhappy customers etc) All it takes is for one person to assume the two companies are the same, and yours ends up getting a bunch of bad press.

[e36bmw///]

8u

[dannie]

I wouldn't suggest it unless you have to. Even if you Incorporate in the US, you'll have to extra provincially register in a Canadian jurisdiction to do business here.

One of our companies had to get registered in the US and the cost was astronomical.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Try Blue Balls, Asphalt Inc.

[Mar]

I think you can. There's another company in Calgary with the same name as my company but with "Inc." at the end of it. So it's like Beyond and Beyond Inc. being 2 different companies. I did a name search at the registry, she asked her manager and they still let me register it since it's not exactly the same.

[e36bmw///]

po

[Crystalrw]

I'm not 100% sure how the laws work, this may be an American law but..

I believe similar or same name in different industries (such as one being food service and the other being paving) is okay. Similar or same name in the same industry could be inviting a legal problem.

Can you do Black Rock or something less similar to be safe?

Here is an example... Liquidation World sued Liquidation Supercentre for the similarity in name (even though it isn't that similar, seriously). I don't think they ended up winning, but the lawsuit dragged out for years and ended up costing a lot in legal fees.

[e36bmw///]

yy

[rage2]

Back in the day when beyond.com was huge during the dotcom boom, they tried to get beyond.ca off me, even though beyond.ca was registered and used actively years before beyond.com was even founded.

It costed a lot of money in lawyer fees to get that taken care of.

[JDMsomething]

I think it matters more if it is a similar business

Blue Rock Salon + spa probably wouldn't be a problem

but since you are both in similar businesses, I don't even think blue rock paving will fly.

[ringmaster]

I wouldn't register a business name evenly remotely similar to another name. If somebody comes after the other company for what ever reason and your names are similar, you're going to get named in a law suit. Mistaken identity happens all the time and it's a bitch to unwind and set everything straight. Save yourself the headache and pick another name.

[revelations]

OP I went through the same thing. I was strongly advised AGAINST this ... even though the company was out of province. In the end I chose a different name.