What is the name of your state? Texas
I recently started a service company which I will call "Company Paws Pet Care" (I'm using "Company" in place of the actual word to protect my privacy). Pet sitting & dog walking services are provided to a single area in Texas. I have no plans to franchise or grow much beyond the area I service. I am a company of 1 and don't even have a website yet.
I got a text message from the owner of "Paws Pet Care" located in another state which says I'm violating her trademark. The text was well written and seems like it was a copy and paste variety either from a lawyer or previous issue with another company. I've confirmed she has trademarked "Paws Pet Care" federally. She also just recently franchised her business although there are none in Texas and only 3 total in the US.
There are dozens of companies across the U.S. that use "Something Something Paws Pet Care". At least one is even trademarked itself (before hers was).
It seems like a real stretch for her to claim that customers would be confused since we are currently not in the same region and our logos, theme, colors, etc. are completely different. Also, while my business name is Company Paws Pet Care, I go by Company Paws. Even in my logo, Company Paws is a different font and color than Pet Care which is on a 2nd line and really serves the purpose of telling people what I do.
I get that she is trying to perhaps protect a future franchisee who may open in TX but I think it's a little aggressive to go after anyone that wants to use "Paws Pet Care". I'm curious if she trolls the internet and is looking to cash in on what is clearly a popular term in the pet industry. I've already invested in the development of a website (not yet public) and marketing materials. I really don't want to flush it down the toilet if she truly has a weak case that will unlikely go anywhere. Welcome everyone's thoughts.
I recently started a service company which I will call "Company Paws Pet Care" (I'm using "Company" in place of the actual word to protect my privacy). Pet sitting & dog walking services are provided to a single area in Texas. I have no plans to franchise or grow much beyond the area I service. I am a company of 1 and don't even have a website yet.
I got a text message from the owner of "Paws Pet Care" located in another state which says I'm violating her trademark. The text was well written and seems like it was a copy and paste variety either from a lawyer or previous issue with another company. I've confirmed she has trademarked "Paws Pet Care" federally. She also just recently franchised her business although there are none in Texas and only 3 total in the US.
There are dozens of companies across the U.S. that use "Something Something Paws Pet Care". At least one is even trademarked itself (before hers was).
It seems like a real stretch for her to claim that customers would be confused since we are currently not in the same region and our logos, theme, colors, etc. are completely different. Also, while my business name is Company Paws Pet Care, I go by Company Paws. Even in my logo, Company Paws is a different font and color than Pet Care which is on a 2nd line and really serves the purpose of telling people what I do.
I get that she is trying to perhaps protect a future franchisee who may open in TX but I think it's a little aggressive to go after anyone that wants to use "Paws Pet Care". I'm curious if she trolls the internet and is looking to cash in on what is clearly a popular term in the pet industry. I've already invested in the development of a website (not yet public) and marketing materials. I really don't want to flush it down the toilet if she truly has a weak case that will unlikely go anywhere. Welcome everyone's thoughts.