Recycling Cafe Name?
I'm putting together a business plan for a retail cafe concept. I would love to name my biz after a former cafe chain that went out of business a decade ago but don't know any of the legalities. Do the former owners of the now non-existant business own the name forever. would it be safe to use a similar name. I wouldn't pay money to pay tribute to my favorite old coffee chain but wondering if anyone out there has any insight into these type of legalities? Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jason Shipley on
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You need to find out if someone holds a trademark on the name. Additionally they may have trademarked other aspects of their marketing and image. You should consult an attorney and should anticipate paying for some research.
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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on
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You can do some of the research yourself by contacting the state licensing and find out of the name is registered or was registered. You can also register your name on a Federal or national level. More $ but if this coffee biz was big enough you can bet they did. Follow Jason's suggestion and get legal advise and help with this. First thing we did was retain an attorney, second was a bookkeeper. Above all you don't need potential law suits when just getting started. I was developing our name when attending the Seattle Coffee Fest a few years back. Our branding coach wanted to see potential business cards. He took one look at ours and said it was a great name but highly suggested we not use it because he has 30% ownership in the Drive thru company with that name in areas north of Seattle. They he finished by saying they would probably come after us. The next day he saw our revision and gave us a thumbs up and we have been doing well with it since.
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Permalink Reply by Cash Reynolds on
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Thanks Jason, I appreciate the advice! - Cash [_]D
Jason Shipley said:You need to find out if someone holds a trademark on the name. Additionally they may have trademarked other aspects of their marketing and image. You should consult an attorney and should anticipate paying for some research.
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Thank you for all the great info Joseph, very helpful!
Joseph Robertson said:You can do some of the research yourself by contacting the state licensing and find out of the name is registered or was registered. You can also register your name on a Federal or national level. More $ but if this coffee biz was big enough you can bet they did. Follow Jason's suggestion and get legal advise and help with this. First thing we did was retain an attorney, second was a bookkeeper. Above all you don't need potential law suits when just getting started. I was developing our name when attending the Seattle Coffee Fest a few years back. Our branding coach wanted to see potential business cards. He took one look at ours and said it was a great name but highly suggested we not use it because he has 30% ownership in the Drive thru company with that name in areas north of Seattle. They he finished by saying they would probably come after us. The next day he saw our revision and gave us a thumbs up and we have been doing well with it since.
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Cash,
We are all in this togather. The more we network and share the better we all will do. Contact me directly if you need or want to. I'm having way too much fun not to share and help others out there on similar paths to java enlightenment. This BX site Matt came up with can and will change the face of this rapidly changing market.
Cash Reynolds said:Thank you for all the great info Joseph, very helpful!
Joseph Robertson said:You can do some of the research yourself by contacting the state licensing and find out of the name is registered or was registered. You can also register your name on a Federal or national level. More $ but if this coffee biz was big enough you can bet they did. Follow Jason's suggestion and get legal advise and help with this. First thing we did was retain an attorney, second was a bookkeeper. Above all you don't need potential law suits when just getting started. I was developing our name when attending the Seattle Coffee Fest a few years back. Our branding coach wanted to see potential business cards. He took one look at ours and said it was a great name but highly suggested we not use it because he has 30% ownership in the Drive thru company with that name in areas north of Seattle. They he finished by saying they would probably come after us. The next day he saw our revision and gave us a thumbs up and we have been doing well with it since.
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Permalink Reply by Dennis on
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One thing you should keep in mind is why the company went under...was it bought out by a bigger company? bankruptcy? etc. By using a similar/same name you are essentially inheriting all of the history along with it...including bad PR, Press, etc.....and at the same time the good. but it is something to be weary of. customers/suppliers/stakeholders remember these things and may think of you as the same company and hold it against you. You might consider using a historical coffee reference that is in the distant history...ie. 50years plus to bring about the nostalga your looking for but without the potential bad stuff. Just a thought
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Permalink Reply by Ron Ingber on
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Not to "nit pick", but there seems to be a lot of discussions (including this one) that should really be located in different areas. I would expect this discussion to be in "Retail Coffee Business" rather than "Barista Exchanges & Travel".
Back to the subject; the name and logo/graphics/etc. may be the only remaining assets of the company. If it is a great name (and doesn't have much negative history), it would be worth a reasonable amount of money to buy the name. If they were incorporated, you could save a lot of money by purchasing the "corporate shell".
Ron, the Country Guy
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Permalink Reply by Jason Dominy on
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As a general rule, I don't like to see name recycling in any form, especially if the previous shop went under, or left a bad taste in the mouth of local residents. Again, you want to distance yourself from the previous shop. You want to do a new thing. You want people to check you out without preconceived notions as to your business. I do have a customer that used a previous companies name, adding a "g" to "Brewin", but the previous company wasn't located in the state, and no one had heard of it, so it wasn't as big a deal. Just think about those things before you use the name.
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Permalink Reply by Marshall Fuss on
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Trademark protection is basically given on a "use it or lose it" basis. If they have been out of business for more than 10 years, it is quite possible the name is up for grabs. You should treat the name like any other, before investing any money in it. In other words do a full federal/state/internet search. You can start by searching the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office files, which is free and will give you a quick read the registered trademarks: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4001:c2hrm...
If it looks clear after that, get yourself a lawyer and have him/her search the commercial trademark databases. Trademark availability is often not a black and white issue, and unregistered users may have "common law" rights. So, you want a professional reading on how safe the name is for you. What you are trying to avoid here is one of those "cease and desist" letters after you have already established the brand.
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Listen to Marshall, as he is the General Counsel for the SCAA.
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