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Naming a company.

The BoidSmith

The BoidSmith

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We have discussed the use and abuse of copyrighted pictures. Fine, everyone agrees on that one.

What haven't been addressed in this forum, is the use of business names with an unusual similarity to already established bussinesses that have already earned a solid reputation.

What do the people in here think if someone decides to start selling ETBs or GTPs and used the name "Arboreals of the Forest", or corn snakes under the name "Serpentco" or "Cornatopia or even maybe ball pythons as "The Snakekiper"?
 
When trying to get an injection .... err ... injunction ;) it really helps your position to have your name trademarked.
 
Well,

I would probably label it "business by deception", and there is an example of what I mean closer than you think. ;)
 
I think it shows to a persons mentality and origanality. used to go under "Just Dums" then within 6 months there was all these "just rainboas" and "just boas" and crap well there all gone now. But in any even event we couldnt help but laugh at them all. Or like Ecothermics, Kevin from Fl is a hell of a guy well all the sudden someone going under ectotherms popped up he just ripped it off from Kevin and I know a few of us refused to do buisness with him. people like that are nothing more then lazy and trying to make money of someone elses name in most cases. Now from time to time there are people who honestly didnt know but I think the ones who did outweigh the ones who didnt. Best thing to do is boycott them.
 
in addition to ectothermz, there is also ectotherm (apparently a supplement company that just started VERY recently).

it'll be interesting to see what those companies do in the future, b/c i know ECTOTHERMICS is going nowhere, kevin and charlotte will be around for years! :D
 
This is a mis-understanding, honestly when my name came around quite a while back ECTOTHERMZ was two people myself (Justin Higgs) and my partner. Well we were looking for a name and he came up with this and at the time ECTOTHERMICS was not apparent to me. Now over that period of time I have really really worked my tail of to bring forth excellent customer service and excellent snakes, I had no intentions of taking a successful businesses name and profitting off of it. ECTOTHERMZ as a business is growing quite well but to be honest I would prefer people to know me as Justin Higgs the person I really am, I don't run a multiple person outfit and have taken nothing and turned it into alot. I just wanted to say that in no way was I over am I ever planning to rip of a successful name and profit off of it. ECTOTHERMICS runs a great opporation and personally I'm setting my focus of boa morphs, but when people ask where they can get top quality locality specific morphs I refer them to ECTOTHERMICS. Well I just wanted to clear the air a bit to those that think that ECTOTHERMZ(Justin Higgs) is a cheap rip off. Thank you for your time.

Justin Higgs
ECTOTHERMZ...
 
Sorry about a few typos: I meant to say locality specific... not morphs!
 
btw, justin, i hope my post didn't sound like your animals aren't of top quality. they are. i bought one from you, lol.
like i said, i'm just curious to see what happens in the future.

also, you indicated that you'd rather be known by who you are, rather than your business name, any changes in the future?

later man, jb
 
JB, absolutly no offense taken in any way. I had the pleasure to do business with you! Well as far as that goes whose to say but currently...probably not, the thing is that I have vested so much effort and money into this name and this reputation that I don't forsee it. I'm excited for what the future is going to bring too and really can't wait as ECTOTHERMZ... is blossoming and I'm working on some fun and awesome projects. Thanks everyone!

Best,
Justin Higgs
ECTOTHERMZ...
 
Hrm... I have a question to add to this thread... slightly different topic...

Do you think it's appropriate for people who are doing this just as a hobby to come up with a name to sell their reptiles under? Or should they just sell them as John Doe's reptiles, instead of Super Hobbyist's Reptile Eporium, or whatever?

-Kat Hall
 
I think this is an interesting topic. Never thought about it to the degree some are speaking, but I have had just the simalarity aspect go through my mind with a since of curiosity.
As far as a "small" guy vs. a "true business" is interesting.
I look at it this way. Take me for example. A person who has just kept snakes for 15 + years, bred some things, and other than that just bought/sold/traded/aquired animals over the years. I put my ads under who I am. I have no website at this time. I take all my own digital pics and send them via email is asked or in my ads as part of the "advertisment". THe thing that probably changes that in people eyes is whent hey get a website. In the next year or so, I might be of size that a website and have thought of the name part. I just like the idea of adding "reptiles" after my name (Brianoakleyreptiles.com). It is easy to put me with the site/ads you might see at that time. Alot of people around do that.
On the other hand people who employ other individuals (ie: Prehistoric Pets, LLL, and many others) are a true storefront as well. What better than to have the site/advertisments under the same name.
Lastly, as far as name being outwardly similar, I think one should be careful. Yes, I know from personal experiences with a friend, that they can be sued. He has a magazine that was named something close to another magazine and he was forced to change it. He did it not out of trying to better himself off others (not to say others do not), but only because coinsidently the name of HIS magazine represented the topic of the magazine and a well famous magazine who WAS there first had a very similar name. In these cases some win and some lose.
If one is outwardly doing it to mislead or misdirect a consumer (at least in this industry) I think we quickly find out the difference. Unfortuantely it is usually at the cost of someones penny. I think it is wrong if that is ones intention, but I just ownder if in cases around here anything can be done. One is only just going by a name. In a way you can almost consider it a "nickname" of sort. Can someone stop you from using a "nickname" that you use to identify yourself as rather than a true business (paying taxes, registered, employees or not), just a hobbiest making a penny here or there, I do not know. I know in the state of Arizona, if you profit less than $10K from a "hobby" it is not taxable. Alot of fine lines now that I think about it.
I completely agree witht he other examples used like the Victoria's/Victor's Secret, I think that is wrong and glad they were forced to change.
Happy New Year!
Brian Oakley
 
Let me fix my typo. When it reads, "........I might be of size that a website and have thought of......"
it should read something like, in the next year or two I might be of size where a website is benefitial and have thought of the name part.

Got a ilttle ahead of my fingers there and was not paying attention...LOL!

Take care,
Brian Oakley
 
When naming a company you have to think of where you want to be, what your goal is. It's very hard and costs a lot (in money and lost revenue) to change your name down the road. All the time and effort to get a reputation could be wasted by switching names in mid-stream. If you see yourself as still a hobbyist X years down the road (which means you'll have limited liability due the size of the company) then Jon Doe Reptiles is fine. If your looking at growing into something more complex (size is usually a sign of the amount of liability you've open yourself up to) then a generic name not related to your own name may be more appropriate so you can incorporate down the road and put some legal space between you and the company. This is not shadowy at all, as a employee driving a company vehicle in an accident can wipe out a small business person (both the business and their personal finances as well, if not properly protected).

I did a search for "Scales" as a trademark. There were over 300 companies using that as part of their name (that were registered). I think (not a lawyer so not sure) that you have to show intent for wrong doing when suing over a similiar name.

A company that takes a name to ride off of someone elses reputation will also take short cuts in other areas and find his business gone (not saying this is the case in any of the cases placed her, just a hypothetical company). For instance the one the is loudest in my memory is the L & L Reptile that I feel (personal opinion) targeted the LLL Reptile name. L & L is no longer around.
 
It also depends on your own state's laws. Here in Virginia we can use DBA or T/A names (Doing Business As or Trading As) and have bank accounts, etc. set up in those names. It doesn't offer the protection of a corporation, but defines that it is a business. That said, we can also have a hobby/craft and as long as there is less than X amount of dollars, it is non-reportable income. Those hobby/craft 'businesses' often go under trade names and not the actual individual's name. Along the lines of selecting a name, I used to go by EarthTones for the handcrafted jewelry I make and sell at a few small, local craft shows. I had not seen it anywhere else and it was descriptive of the product I was selling - jewelry made of natural materials and stones in the natural earth tones. The first show I did had another lady selling very similar products called Earth Stones (seperate the words in my chosen name and add an "S"). Was I trying to be a knock off of her name? No, I just happened to pick a similar name because it described what I was doing as I'm sure she did. What I do now is simply sell under my own name. However, if you are planning to make this an actual business and not a hobby, then the name needs to be researched before putting it out there. It isn't just that people might mistake you for one of the other good guys, they could also mistake you for one of the bad guys and you'd not get any business because you chose to go by something similar to what a blacklisted seller did. For what few animals I'm intending to produce (hopefully) and sell in the next year, they will be sold under my own name because I don't want there to be any confusion over who people are dealing with.

Dianne
 
It isn't just that people might mistake you for one of the other good guys, they could also mistake you for one of the bad guys and you'd not get any business because you chose to go by something similar to what a blacklisted seller did.
Click to expand...

It seems that more often than not they choose names similar to those of succesful businesses. I haven't seen it the other way around. A buyer that has heard that name once will be lured into trusting them because the name "rings a bell" as that of one of the more reputable dealers.

Regards.
 
Its all kind of like how threatening you are to the business that your moniker is similiar to , in other words how consumers will react when they see someone with a similiar name selling a similiar product at a cheaper price. The originator of the name will be threatened by your business or not, human nature....what a concept.
Kind of makes me wonder if Big Apple Herps will question me for calling myself 'Apples Way' probably not.
After all it is a name I have had for 39 years, hmmm come to think of it I remember a television show called Apples Way that ran for a season or two in the seventies.
well thats enough after work ramblings
 
Its all kind of like how threatening you are to the business that your moniker is similiar to , in other words how consumers will react when they see someone with a similiar name selling a similiar product at a cheaper price. The originator of the name will be threatened by your business or not, human nature....what a concept.
Click to expand...

John,

In reality my point is not that the name is threatening the other company, but that the individual is using that "similarity" to deceive customers and make them think they are dealing with the "real thing". This is not something I made up, and probably someone else in this board has noticed it.

Regards.
 
Hey Danny
Howarya bud
I think threatening is being deceiving to the customer in that someone has less than standard animals and is selling them as a name similiar to the base name animal , or that they are using the same name maybe mis-spelling it somewhat to sell animals of their own at risk to the owner of the business name. Both scenerios are just bad for business. Yes Danny I do understand what you are saying , which is the poor customer is the recipient of sub-standard animals.
I guess I was going off in a different direction:scatter:
peace:beer:
 
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