Company trading with same name?

[ian.settle1]

Are either of you registered with Company House?

 

[SolarCity]

Yes, we are as Solar City Ltd.

 

[Gavin A]

you'd have to be to be a limited company, which our solar city has said they are.

 

[finchy]

try it (Formula 1) and then use the wording in their letter for this other outfit...!You cant really do much with trading names, only to employ a trade mark lawyer ! Although REAL and MCS should apply some logic and say they wont list companies of the same name.. first comes first basis.

Good Luck I can recommend a trademark lawyer if you need one (my best mate is one) !

 

[whinmoor]

My sympathies - this is an awkward situation. I doubt there is much you can do on the website front as the other company can pick any url it wants and can find available. I agree with Gavin that you may have a case of "Passing Off" but this might be where the lawyers start rubbing their hands :sad:

 

[SolarCity]

Just as an update:

We've had advice from a few sources now and the general consensus is that we have a water tight case. We're sending a solicitor's letter out first of all and then seeing what happens.

We're really concerned about this as our reputation is our greatest asset and we're prepared to invest heavily in getting it sorted.

 

[SibertSolar]

Good luck with it mate, take em apart!

 

[solarsavings]

You may recall I had the same problem and after spending good money with solicitors trying to stop them they simply refused to change their name. Complaining to companies houes, REAL, MCS was useless too.

I could have spent thousands taking them to court and won but it would have cost me not them. I took the view that they wouldn't be around long enough to cause me harm and that does seem to be the case.

 

[onions1066]

There is nothing you can do about it the only thing is they can't limited if you already are.

 

[SolarCity]

There is nothing you can do about it the only thing is they can't limited if you already are.

Apparently our case is pretty straightforward. All we need to is prove that our name has been around longer and that there is a conflict of interest. We had a customer with a few miles of their office just last week.

 

[onions1066]

But there is still nothing you can do about someone starting again with the same name next week then you have to go through it all again, if it really bothers you I would consult someone who knows the legality of you having sole ownership of that name, just the same as you couldn't go out there and start " b and q electrical " . Could be a price attached to this though

 

[mdovey]

just the same as you couldn't go out there and start " b and q electrical "

Actually you could - there is no company registered at companies house with the name B and Q Electrical (or B and Q Electricals for that matter), so you would be able to register that name as a limited company very easily (the company you may be thinking of is registered as B and Q PLC). Also the domain names bandqelectrical.com and bandqelectricals.com are still available.

So for under 50 pounds I could have B and Q Electrical incorporated and with a web presence early next week.

However, if this was noticed by B and Q PLC, I've no doubt I would have a legal letter telling me to desist or rename very quickly, and a company the size of B and Q would quite readily follow this up in court if necessary.

Whether they would win the case would depend what I was trading under the name B and Q Electricals - if it was clearly not trying to pass off as B and Q, or in a different line of business entirely with legitimate reasons for calling it B and Q (maybe it sells electric barbeques?) and if I could afford the time and money to defend it, then B and Q may not have a case.

Matthew

 

[JulianC]

Aaah, all this reminds me of the time I ran a Saab specialist retailer called Elkparts. Our logo was the silhouette of an elk which we took from an actual road sign common in Sweden. We had some T-shirts printed and offered for sale on our website. They were popular enough to attract the attention of a large US based purveyor of horrendously over-priced style-less chavwear who had a range of crappy T-shirts with a vaguely similar elk motif. We received a wonderfully threatening letter from their solicitors, requesting all sorts of damages running into eye-watering amounts for passing off, if we didn't cease and desist immediately. Had they asked nice and politely in the first instance, we might have obliged. Instead we employed a trademark lawyer who put up a good defence, along the lines of; we were using the logo before they were, so they were therefore the ones who should be accused of passing off and essentially, because we'd nicked the logo anyway, if they had a problem with incorrect usage, they should take it up with the Swedish government. In the end, after a few months of stern letters back and forth, they backed down and we couldn't afford to mount a counter-case against them, so, 3 grand lighter, we were back to business as usual. A total waste of time and money, with only our lawyer benefiting from it all, but by God it was satisfying.

Anyhoo, apologies for rambling. Good luck with it all Solar City - worth fighting when you know you're right.

 

[Robert Turnbull]

I have some friends who have next electrical ltd

All very well till they opened a shop selling light fittings

Wasn't long till a clothing shop had there lawyers round

 

[onions1066]

Is that because they have the legal rights to that name?