I'm using a throw away account for privacy. But I need to take you down this little rabbit hole with me lol
So, a month ago I searched my business name on facebook to post something on it and this other business name came up before my own with a very similar name to mine. When I say similar, I mean they basically just added "the" to my already existing name. They are in the same (very niche) industry and 40 minutes from my office. I have clients in the same town as them, I used to work in the same town as them, and advertise there still, as well. Location: Florida.
Anyways, I'm upset when I find this because not only is someone basically using my name, facebook shows it as my pictures next to their name. It looks like we are the same business when scrolling. So, I go to find out about who owns this business. It's a freaking sovereign citizen. This dudes whole page is about hiding your money from the government, how to avoid legal stuff, and really just like 'NWO conspiracy' vibes. So, I really dive into his page. It looks like about a year ago he had another business. That failed. Then a couple of months later, he started this new business, which is nothing like his old one. This type of business is very niche. Usually people have prior experience working in a medical type setting for our industry. Which I know he did not do. He's advertising for very dangerous services, services I won't even touch because it involves more advanced training and insurance. Which I know he doesn't have.
So, I do some googling on what I can do about this. I believe it constitutes as trademark infringement. Unfortunately I had not already filed a trademark, but I have been using this name for years. I filed for a trademark and I drafted up a cease and desist letter to send to this person. I didn't want to have to pay for a lawyer. I was hoping it would scare him into just changing the name and he would try to avoid taking this to court.
Well, that wasn't the case. I received a 3 page letter back from him stating exactly why he will not be complying... which he signed with purple ink and a red thumbprint. The signature for the letter was signed and printed in the code UCC 1-308. SIGNED. AND. PRINTED in that code lol. The letter claims Tea Rose-Rectanus.
Anyways, I'm waiting on the trademark to come in still. It's been about a month. Do I really need to pay $1000 to send another cease and desist from a lawyer? Do I really have to put a $10k retainer to take this guy to court?? It's so frustrating for me because I spent the last decade working towards this business. It's a small business. But I have to come up with an astronomical amount to protect my rights?? Are there maybe freelance lawyers who would do this for less? Its a little disheartening. I need some guidance!
Sovcits do not live in the same reality as the rest of us. They are pigeons on a chess board.
No amount of letters, court orders, or anything will stop him from using your business name or pictures if he doesn't want to. Challenging them makes it worse. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if you changed your business name that he would just ape that too. I'd also keep a close eye on your property titles and lock down your credit. It's common for these people to place fraudulent liens and such.
Hire an SEO to get your name back on top and bury his results.
You are either going to have to do all those things or change your name.
Changing your name would probably be easier and cheaper.
Yeah, I'm not going to change my name. Like I said, I've been doing this for years. I have an established brand in my area.
Then prepare to find a lawyer, and a lot of money, and the ability to withstand a lot of stress. If he is a sovcit, he will not give a damn about court orders, so even if you win, you're in for a long, difficult, and expensive fight.
In the end, what ultimate option is there that would force a sovcit to change their name or close their business? It feels like they would just ignore any order and it’s not something they can go to jail for.
It depends a lot on the judge assigned to the case, and how far they are willing to go. But it's going to take a lot of time and money and many instances of ignored orders to get to that point.
Don't have any illusions here -- this is going to cost a fortune, and there's no guarantee you get what you want.
What’s the fullest extent of the law the judge can go in a case like this?
It really depends. In theory, jail for criminal contempt. But that's the nuclear option, and with a sovcit, it might not work.
Once you have some legal footing, would you have avenues to get Facebook / google / x to take down the pages? That seems to be the important part.
Maybe. They're not required to, because they're not parties and the order doesn't bind them -- but they might.
Like you said, this will be an expensive and maybe fruitless court battle. If your picture and similar name are being used on social media report it, make posts alerting your customers to the situation, be sure to directly email customers you have contracts with (if any) to make sure they're dealing with you before any money moves.
If it's niche and potentially used in the medical field is there a licensing board or any kind of regulatory body that you could report this to so it gets dealt with but not at your cost?
You could also look into the cost for SEO (search engine optimization to put your page higher up in search results) to remedy that for a lower cost than a lawyer.
The approach of contacting everyone often works in niche industries.
If he is performing medical services without training or a proper license, let the regulatory bodies deal with him by reporting him.
Report him for practicing without a license/ insurance
I believe it could take up to 9 months to get your trademark approved. I had one finally approved last year and that about how long it took.
might be cheaper and less of a headache to rename your business
I haven't had experience doing this 1:1 to your situation, but once your trademark registration is in hand, you should be able to request a takedown from Facebook. (This is a different takedown than a DMCA takedown, which relates to copyright not trademark). Facebook might ignore you at first but keep at it and they should honor it.
This should work for any social media.
I'm assuming you filed a federal mark, so if you filed that yourself (or your attorney is not an experienced IP attorney) make sure you have the correct proof of use in interstate commerce. That's the biggest stumbling block for small businesses and self-filers. If you can't get a federal mark, work on your state mark.