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Simular Not For Profit Incorporation Names

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byerly97

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state ?
New york State.
I am president of a Automobile Vintage Racing Club and recently we had several members unhappy with club's agenda, form a seperate racing club. They have applied for and received an incorporation name that is a derevitive of our Incorporated name. Our organization's name is the "Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club and has operated as such since 1997. We book race dates in the states of New York, Penna. and the Canadian Provdence of Ontario. We are known through the print media by a column submitted to a weekly racing publication and have a known name on internet discussion groups and by our own website. The new entity has filed and received an Incorporation as the "Midstate Antique Stock Car Club" . We feel that the State of New York should not have granted to this organization an Incorporation name that is merely an synonym of our name and feel that said name will cause great confusion with our dealings with race track owners, the print and internet media, other vintage racing organizations, and will also confuse fans of our club. What legal recourse do we have ? Any pro-bono or free help available ?
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
byerly97 said:
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state ?
New york State.
I am president of a Automobile Vintage Racing Club and recently we had several members unhappy with club's agenda, form a seperate racing club. They have applied for and received an incorporation name that is a derevitive of our Incorporated name. Our organization's name is the "Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club and has operated as such since 1997. We book race dates in the states of New York, Penna. and the Canadian Provdence of Ontario. We are known through the print media by a column submitted to a weekly racing publication and have a known name on internet discussion groups and by our own website. The new entity has filed and received an Incorporation as the "Midstate Antique Stock Car Club" . We feel that the State of New York should not have granted to this organization an Incorporation name that is merely an synonym of our name and feel that said name will cause great confusion with our dealings with race track owners, the print and internet media, other vintage racing organizations, and will also confuse fans of our club. What legal recourse do we have ? Any pro-bono or free help available ?
You could try and claim common-law trademark rights to your name, and sue them for trademark infringement. That will probably require the services of an attorney, it may be difficult to find an attorney willing to work for free on such a case -- but you never know, contact your state's bar association to inquire about free or low-cost legal assistance.
 

byerly97

Junior Member
divgradcurl, Thank you for the reply. The club has very limited funds and I'm hoping that someone can guide us or enlighten us of the probablity of a favorable outcome for our club if we engage legal counsel to pursue this matter.
 

ATV Club

Junior Member
ATV Club

Kentucky has a data base for checking on corporate and not for profit corporate names. One is responsible for doing so before filing for corporation status. They have a seperate fee for appying for and receiving a corporate name. I believe the corporate name you apply for and receive gives you the right to that name. See if New York has the same process for registering a name and then pay for it, it will give you a better legal footing and here the state will enforce the original name title, I do not believe there is any cost to the Non-Profit Corporation, but do not hold me to that!
 

divgradcurl

Senior Member
I believe the corporate name you apply for and receive gives you the right to that name.
Just FYI, that's not really true, because anyone can register for a corporation name as long as that name doesn't already exist in the list of corporations in the particular state -- but you may not be able to actually USE the name if someone else has already obtained trademark rights to the name.
 

divgradcurl

Senior Member
byerly97 said:
divgradcurl, Thank you for the reply. The club has very limited funds and I'm hoping that someone can guide us or enlighten us of the probablity of a favorable outcome for our club if we engage legal counsel to pursue this matter.
There's no way to really tell without a really detailed look at ALL of the relevant facts, including a lot of facts that probably only the other party is currently privy to. I realize you have limited funds -- you could try and contact your state's bar association to see if there is someone willing to work on a free or reduced-cost basis for a nonprofit. I wouldn't count on it, but it's worth a shot. However, an hour or two with a lawyer who has access to a lot more facts than we have here may be able to give you an idea as to whether it's worthwhile to pursue this issue or not.
 

byerly97

Junior Member
divgradcurl : Thanks Again for the info. I've tried the state bar association website and I'm having no luck finding any help. I've been in contact with
the Director, Dept. of Pro Bono Affairs of the New York State Bar Association in Albany, NY, and said Director, Ms Feathers gave me a local contact. I tried calling him but he didn't have the time of day for this matter, nor any advice of where to go for help. I don't know where to turn at this point.
Hopefully, a Lawyer who's a car racing fan will see this post and offer some help. I can not ask the club for a mandate to spend the club's meager funds to pursue this matter, without some probabilty of positive results.
 

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