Erik, If you're in Mass, but not incorporated, then you are a sole proprietor "doing business as" a company. You could hire an attorney, to file the articles of incorporation, and do a trademark search and whatnot, but that will cost on the order of $1,000+. If you do not want to hire an attorney, you could try filing articles of incorporation yourself with the Secretary of State's Office, and I think the application is maybe $200. If you do not want to incorporate at all, but operate a business (consulting, etc.) that is not in your natural name, then you are supposed to register your company with the local city/town hall. That option costs about $20/year. These various types of filings are what give you legitimacy, and start to copyright your use of a particular name if I'm not mistaken. Depending on what this other company did or does, there is even room for two companies to have the same name or overlapping trademarks - if they are in different fields. For example, MAC Enterprises can't be sued for trademark infringement by Apple Computer if MAC Enterprises is a landscaping business run by Michael And Charlie
I'm sorry that I don't have better personal advice to give....but I've started and putoff incorporating a couple times without actually doing it yet. Plus, I'm not an attorney obviously, so you'll have to confirm anything I say. Still, I do have some good resources bookmarked at my website at http://freephile.com/bookmarker/search.php3 Do a search with subcategory.name = 'business' . The SBA.gov site is a good one for starters, as is www.buzgate.org. All of this is just my personal experience as a 'sole proprietor' who has entertained the idea of incorporating a few times, but so far has always been to pressed to do other things. Of course, if you end up seeking good legal counsel, there are a few links within my bookmark collection noted above to some of the well-know internet/technology attorneys. hth, Greg Rundlett Sr. Internet Systems Architect FREePHILE.com 978-423-8172 [EMAIL PROTECTED] aim: freephile ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Price" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 1:39 PM Subject: sorta OT: company names > Hi, > > This question isn't really related to Linux or Unix specifically, but > I'll ask anyway since I know there are some experienced developers on > this list. > > I am writing a small chunk of software (in Java) that I intend to > release on Freshmeat when I have a beta. I don't have a "company" name > registered in whatever organization keeps track of company names, but > I'd like to use one (even though it's just me hacking in my spare time, > not-for-profit). This is especially significant given that I would use > the name in the software package name, eg > "com.MyCompany.MyApplicationPackage". However, the name that I want to > use was taken by another company about 7 years ago, but I am fairly > certain it longer exists -- there are only 19 hits on Google in > reference to the name, and of those, only a few actually related to the > company. They do not have a web site, nor can I find any contact > information about them. A Wired article indicates that this company > was based out of someone's apartment in New York, whereas I live in > Mass. > > I'm wondering if it's legal to just appropriate the name for my own > use. I'd guess not, but then I wonder how many diners out there are > named "Classic Diner" or what have you. Furthermore, I have the domain > name already. What are the (legal) steps to take so that you can put > "Copyright 2002 My Company" on your software? > > Thanks for your thoughts, > > > Erik > > > > > > > -- > Erik Price (zombies roam) > > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > jabber: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss ------------------------------------------------------- -- Greg Rundlett Sr. Internet Systems Architect FREePHILE "Free Software on Linux" [EMAIL PROTECTED] (978) 423-8172 _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
