Could i get sued?

[amber913]

(Please move, mods, if there's a better place for this--i couldn't find one)

I'm starting up a soap business, and i've thought of the perfect name. It's indicative of my ancestry, as well as my community, and i love the sound of it. So like a smart little business woman, i googled it to make sure another soap co. of the same name doesn't exist. And one doesn't, but there's one that's close to it. I don't want to give out either name here, so i'll make up parodies, so you can get an idea of how close the names are.

Celtic Soap Makers
Celtic Green Soap Makers

(The only word that's really used from the above is "soap")

So if you were Celtic Soap Makers and you found Celtic Green Soap Makers, should you expect to go to court once they find you? Oh, yeah, and Celtic Green Soap Makers is based about two hours away from you.

[zebra15]

I would check with my department of commerce and file all appropriate business papers.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I just asked my attorney DH and he said it's possible that they could/would sue.

He says to check with the state (Sec. of State probably) to see if the trade name has been registered at all. Although, just because it's not registered, doesn't mean they don't have grounds to sue.

[sapphire_chan]

The people who do the registrations should be able to advise you on how separate names have to be for businesses in a given distance.

There also might be possible that a different order of words makes it more okay.

Meanwhile, make sure to take a look at their logo to avoid overlapping that!

[rootzdawta]

Moved from Arts and Crafts to WAHM Well.

[dogmom327]

I'd come up with a different name. Assuming for a moment they don't/can't sue, do you really want another company around with a similar name? It's not just they're customers getting confused, it's yours too.

[amber913]

Thanks, mamas! I did change it, but I still really like the original name i came up with. Oh, well.

[Kristine233]

Originally Posted by amber913

Thanks, mamas! I did change it, but I still really like the original name i came up with. Oh, well.

It sucks when you have to compromise but I agree with the others who said to change it. It would be more confusing for your customers and you could lose a lot of potential business just because of that reason alone.