Incorporating.....

I've got a question about incorporating... I've got a programming biz in South Carolina that is incorporated. I've heard a "rumor" that another biz is trying to incorporate under my name but adding a .com to the name. An example biz name is abc and they want to inc. under abc.com. Is this legal? I'm going to contact an attorney next week but was wondering if anyone had any experience with this.

Thanks...
Ron

Ron:

I am NOT a lawyer and this is NOT legal advice.
For legal advice, go and see a lawyer.

Having said that, let me say this from an Australian perspective:

Whether they get the name is up to the body which governs the issue/granting of names.

If they are in a different field/market, then they will probably get the name. If they are in the same field/market as you, they most likely will not get the name.

It really depends on how strict the issuing body is when it comes to similar names. Why not call them up and ask them?

Michael Ross
http://www.sowpub.com/greatideas/


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First off, I am NOT an attorney, but as I understand it, corporations are created and governed by the laws of the state of incorporation, in your case South Carolina. So a corporation with a name identical to yours could be created in North Carolina. That is why Trademark & Service mark regulations were created, and even then, you must prove you are actually using or marketing the Name in the specific geographic making it confusing for the potential customer to realize the differences between the two companies. In your case as cited by your example ABC, Inc is clearly not the same as ABC.COM, Inc. That is a distinct name although similar to yours, not identical.

Checking with your attorney and applying a little legal muscle may help eliminate their usage, but in today’s complicated system, I’m not sure I’d bet on it.

As you said, maybe it’s just a “rumor.” How many rumors turn out to be true?


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