adiwillow — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:55:34 +0000

'bondy' is purely the company name and actually refers to its location (road name) as opposed to a brand name etc. The other company has used it purely to target my customers.

Thanks for the advice.

tobyfrost — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:30:57 +0000

I think Tim's on the button there - get advice from a trademark legal firm (in the uk i have used motley and hope before). the only issue I can think of that may make them want to fight is if 'bondy' is a descriptive term used in 'reclamation' (if that makes sence) eg. kellogs - cereals is a stronger brand than, say, wholefood - cereals which is a descriptive term as well as (possibly) a brand.
Even if this is the case, if you are an established firm and can prove that the name could be misleading, you have a case to action. (in my opinion, diclaimer etc!)

adiwillow — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:19:41 +0000

hi ! thanks for the reply.. much appreciated.

Legal action is further down the line, but what i'm thinking is to send an email to the company asking the subdomain to be removed, before legal action is taken. I'd imagine that this, in most circumstances, is enough... hopefully.

I just wanted to check first to make sure ...

Thanks
adi

timjpriebe — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:21:21 +0000

It's highly likely that some sort of legal action could be taken. I've heard of businesses having their lawyers write a cease and desist letter for something like that. There would need to be proof that the company you did the web site for had registered their name in some way. In fact, in the US, they really have to write a cease and desist letter, or they are not taking efforts to protect their trademark, and can therefore legally lose rights to it. The law requires that they protect it.

Of course, I'm no lawyer, and this should not in any way be seen as official legal advice.

Oh, and welcome aboard, Adi. You should go introduce yourself in the Introductions forum.