existing name for production company...

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

I would like to start my own website of my own production company.
I had a name for it, but I wasn't that pleased with it, so I searched for another. Suddenly I thought of a name of which I was pleased, and I looked on the internet to see if it didn't exist already, but there were already 2 things that were named like that, both had nothing to do with film.

I'm expecting the answer to be no, but I wanted to ask here to be sure, in that case I can't also use that name, right?

Thanks,

[Craig Seeman]

It depends on what the laws on in Belgium in part.

I went down to the County Clerk's office in my County (USA) and did a search. My name was available and I filed a DBA (Doing Business As). My web address is slightly different since someone had apparently bought the name spelled the way I want it and registered it for the business (but they never used it . . . it was bought by one of the web address collectors looking to sell names). Here it's very much dependent on where you're conducting business.

I used to edit TV Commercials for an national retail chain called "PayLess." They were able to use that name in 49 of 50 states. Aparently a chain of stores in one state had that name so PayLess had to give the stores another name (and the commercials had a different id tag) in that state.

Your web address certainly does not have to be an exact match (or even close) to your actuall business name.

[Paul Tauger]

Originally Posted by Mathieu Ghekiere

I would like to start my own website of my own production company.
I had a name for it, but I wasn't that pleased with it, so I searched for another. Suddenly I thought of a name of which I was pleased, and I looked on the internet to see if it didn't exist already, but there were already 2 things that were named like that, both had nothing to do with film.

I'm expecting the answer to be no, but I wanted to ask here to be sure, in that case I can't also use that name, right?

Thanks,

I don't know Belgian trademark law, but I'd be surprised if it differs markedly from U.S. law.

There's no way to answer you without knowing the name, how it is used by the other two entities, and how you intend to use it. Unfortunately, I cannot give legal advice to non-clients, so I can't advise even if you provide this information. You should consult a trademark attorney, who will be able to give you a dispositive answer.

[Paul Tauger]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

It depends on what the laws on in Belgium in part.

I went down to the County Clerk's office in my County (USA) and did a search. My name was available and I filed a DBA (Doing Business As). My web address is slightly different since someone had apparently bought the name spelled the way I want it and registered it for the business (but they never used it . . . it was bought by one of the web address collectors looking to sell names). Here it's very much dependent on where you're conducting business.

That's not necessarily true. A federal trademark registration give preemptive rights nationwide.

Note, too, that the merely inquiring and registering a DBA is no insurance at all against incurring trademark infringement liability.

I used to edit TV Commercials for an national retail chain called "PayLess." They were able to use that name in 49 of 50 states. Aparently a chain of stores in one state had that name so PayLess had to give the stores another name (and the commercials had a different id tag) in that state.

The senior user of a trademark will usually (but not always) be able to claim geographic preemption based on prior use.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Originally Posted by Paul Tauger

I don't know Belgian trademark law, but I'd be surprised if it differs markedly from U.S. law.

There's no way to answer you without knowing the name, how it is used by the other two entities, and how you intend to use it. Unfortunately, I cannot give legal advice to non-clients, so I can't advise even if you provide this information. You should consult a trademark attorney, who will be able to give you a dispositive answer.

Hi Paul,

I was thinking about 'Mind in Motion' as a name for a small production house.
The other sites that I found were - note: I'm now seeing even much more sites with this name... :

http://www.mindinmotion-online.com/

http://www.mindmotionrockstheparty.com/mm.html

http://www.wondersinmotion.com/mind/

http://mindinmotion.ca/

Thanks for all the advice.
Maybe I'll just have to figure out another name :-)