I accidentally named my store a name another business has.

[Izzy Stipe]

Should I change it? Don't want to run into any legal troubles. It's currently "kyoob", and there so happens to be an architect company already named kyoob. Forgot to do a Google search before I committed to the name.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

There is nothing in the TOS forbidding it.  So, unless the other merchant has trademarked the name in RL, you won't get into any trouble.  Even if another store has trademarked the name, if what you are selling is totally different you may not get in trouble either as a trademark is very specific to the types of goods or services being sold.  That is why there is Apple Records and Apple Computers.

If you decide not to change your name and someone approaches you claiming the name is trademarked, ask for proof before you cave into any demands.  You can also look it up in the US Patent Office trademark database now.  If they claim they copyrighted it, they didn't.  You can't copyright a store name only trademark it.

That said, it still may be best to change your stores name if you are just starting out to avoid confusing customers.  It will also be easier to have a unique group name etc.

The above is about US law only.  Other countries may say since SL is based in the US on US servers it is a US business and their laws don't apply, but some may base it on your RL place of residence. There are also treaties that govern this between the US and some other countries. 

Full disclosure: I am not a lawyer and what I know about it is only through personal experience trademarking my own business in the US.  I suggest you consult a trademark attorney if you are really concerned about the RL legal risk, especially if you don't live in the US.

[wherorangi]

if you not making/selling the same stuff as the other then I wouldnt worry about it to much in itself

altho if you start getting customer support requests for houses you never made, then you might want to think about that further

 

eta: what Amethyst said (:

[Izzy Stipe]

I'm creating houses, not that far off from an architect company. Time to brainstorm again. Thanks guys.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Izzy Stipe wrote:

I'm creating houses, not that far off from an architect company. Time to brainstorm again. Thanks guys.

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Seeing as you arent making RL houses, I would think you are safe.

[wherorangi]

not unless somebody sees the catalogue in the RL and then IMs OP and goes: Where I can get that off you ?

(:

[Pamela Galli]

I would probably assume the OP was some kind of scammer.

[Codex Alpha]

Generally you should be fine unless the original company believes that a potential client can reasonably confuse your company for theirs.

A simple Google search shows up many 'Kyoob' s anyway, so you're probably fine. If you're name is a play on "cube",  you could just create a variant on it like Qyoob, Kyube, Kyuub, Xube, or w/e.

If you like what you got, go with it, good luck

[SabaothMastema]

If its being unique/safe that concerns you then a rename would be okay. No cost to it. To prevent the issue from happening again do a shop search on the marketplace using the name you have in mind. That would clear up future issues.