Someone stole my business name! Help? Advice?

Question

Ok so I've had Easy Homes LLC for a couple years now. I advertise in my local area, Indiana.

However, I'm getting a lot of buyer leads from people in Alabama, North Carolina, and other places.

I wish I had some houses in those areas to sell to them.

Come to find out, they are using my business name.

Whereas my website is www.easyhomes.us

They have bandit signs and other ads leading to www.easyhomes.today

Not sure what to think of this. how to use it to my advantage . if I'm being looted.

Looking at both sites with different phone numbers and emails I wonder how people in those markets are getting to my site. and if the reverse is happening too.

Should I Sue? should I sell them my business  name and use the money to ramp up my business under a new better name?

What would you do if it were your business name?

Wayne Brooks · Answer

@Lawson Ott

Well, they Do have that website name, which is Not the same as your site.  LLC names are only protected in the states they are created in, and you have no rights to that name in any other state.  I'm sure you'd find out that your state would issue multiple similar names to different people, i.e. .easy homes LLC, easy home Inc., easy homes enterprises, easy homes investors, etc.  Simply put, "easy homes" is Not your business name alone.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Yeah well, maybe they had their site Before you had your site.  Sure though, go sue them..

Lawson Ott · Answer

should I call this loser company and sell their leads back to them? lol

Elizabeth Goforth · Answer

I agree with Josh C.. I hear you that it's frustrating now, but that's just business. Stuff happens. We deal with it and move on. Don't let it get you too upset, it's not worth that.

Rob McGahen · Answer

At most, you should do what Josh C. suggested.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you have encountered. There are tons of businesses all over the country that have very similar names, often in different states, in all kinds of industries.

This other company isn't trying to claim that they are you. Their signs lead back to their own website. It's not their fault that potential customers are finding you instead. They need to do a better job on their own to secure their potential customers.

As Josh said, you should find a way to work with the other guy, let things go, or find a way to enter their market. Good luck!

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

you need to copy right it ..

I started a real estate company in Oregon called real estate executives  .. I kept getting nasty grams from REALTY EXCUTIVES  I simply threw them in the trash..

Paris Beitel · Answer

I would do a little bit of research first and get all of the facts straight.  I would also register as many domain names as I could such as easyhomes.net, easyhomes.biz, easyhomes.whatever that forward to your site.  The best option for both of you is to collaborate and work together.  Give them a call and set up a conference call.  Do lead generation and correspond on creative ideas. Use it to both of your advantages.

John Thedford · Answer

I would also get the name with LLC in it. easyhomesllc.us. Cannot hurt. Don't worry about people with similar names. It will happen. As long as they are not trying to deceive the public you don't have anything to worry about.

Jeff B. · Answer

Easyhomes was registered:

• Created by Registrar:  GoDaddy.com, Inc.Last Updated by Registrar:  GoDaddy.com, Inc.Domain Registration Date:  Sat May 02 21:11:35 GMT 2015Domain Expiration Date:  Mon May 01 23:59:59 GMT 2017Domain Last Updated Date:  Tue May 17 21:22:34 GMT 2016

A website name is not legally related whatsoever to a LLC; it's coincidental that they may match.

Additionally, there are several domain suffixes that ensure that one site is unique to another and thus not conflicting at all; eg:   foo.com is unique from foo.mil, foo.edu, foo.net, foo.org and foo.us

Someone stole my business name! Help? Advice?

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