I recently read this post:

http://vadirectory.net/blog/2010/09/...e-is-bad-form/

It's a blog about one VA using the trademarked name and catch phrase (tag line?) of someone who has been in business for several years. The web site was done by someone else. The second VA was unaware of the questionable use of the website. Unknown as to where this stands at this writing.

Have any of you had a similar situation arise. If so, how have you handled it?

If not, what have you done to protect yourself because, apparently, even trademarked, copyrighted, etc. doesn't do what I would expect it to do.

Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is prevalent on the web, across all professions and industries. I have seen stolen logos, stolen content, entire stolen websites, stolen names and taglines - the works.

There are some conversations related to stolen content, images, and entire websites in this section of the forums that might interest you.

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I own that blog and the person involved ended up having the website taken down. Because I do own a trademarked name and catch phrase I'm in the position of being able to get something done about it. As is often the case, the owner of the site had left all the decisions in the hands of someone else, because she just had no idea. The other person did but didn't care. It just shows how important it is that we have ownership of something, even if we hand over the set up to someone else. This woman, however, was possible going to get into trouble with local business authorities in her area as she was operating under a business name she'd never registered and had been doing other stuff that wasn't legal with respect to business operations. Again, if she is to be believed, because she innocently knew nothing about what she needed to do.

This brings up an important thing that I have noticed in business development. I have seen that some business owners have registered a company name in their state and the state let them and then find themselves being sued by a company registered on the national business level for using a name that is similar to theirs. You can still be found in trouble if you tag lines or business trade names resemble too much like the other registered company. Since we all do business on the internet it is a safe bet to check even the national level of registered names as well. If anyone goes international, they should check to see is there is any international company with the same name.

This happened to my small business while I was in high school. I started a web design studio and found out that there was a small corporation based in Texas that had the name and they threatened to sue.

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Jacob Kruse, VA
HavocBlast Education Services,

Well, that got me thinking....had to go google my tag line! Hehe, only one I found was mine and another company that is overseas! That's encouraging.

Anyway, one of the things I might suggest is to get a membership to Pre-Paid Legal. They will answer any questions and help with legal business issues for a fraction of the regular price. I don't do anything without consulting my attorney first. Which by the way costs me an average of $35/month being a home based business. I am also an authorized associate, so you can sign up directly from my website.

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Carolan @ Seguine Enterprises
www.seguine.info