Wearside Fencing Limited

Background

We were contacted by Wearside Fencing Limited (“Wearside”) when they noticed that another business in the same region was using a very similar company name. This came to light when they received a call from one of the other company’s customers, thinking Wearside was one and the same, not a different business. Wearside wanted to know if they could protect their company identity and reputation from being confused or imitated, unintentionally, by another company providing the same services in the same region.

Approach

Wearside had not protected their name or logo with a trademark. However, we were still able to help. As Wearside’s trading history and brand had been established since 1993, a much longer time than the other business’s, there was a case to raise. We proceeded with issuing a cease and desist letter to the other company, setting out the background regarding confusion of the companies and the potential interference this could cause both their businesses, being similarly named, providing the same services and in the same region. In addition, we also requested the other business remove the reference to the name and any advertisement whether it be printed advertising, online or social media, and to sign an undertaking to do that within a certain timeframe and pay Wearside’s legal fees.

Outcome

The other company decided to change their name and liaised with us for us to research into their newly proposed identity to ensure it didn’t infringe any other businesses in the region. Within 7 days all references to Wearside were removed or unpublished so that any future confusion did not occur. The other party then paid our client’s legal costs in full.