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The Zest

Found Someone Using Your Brand Name? Do This Before You Send Anything

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"Someone else is using my business name. What do I do?" The first move is quieter than you'd think. Before you message them, before you post about it, before you call anyone: screenshot everything, with dates. Then figure out who actually has the better claim to the name, because that answer decides every step after it.

Here's the order that keeps your options open.

Step one: build the record before anyone knows you've noticed

Evidence disappears. Once the other business realizes you're looking, a listing can be edited, a post deleted, an account renamed. So capture what's there now, before you contact anyone.

Take screenshots that show the date and the full URL. Keep a running document of every link with the date you found it. Capture the profile, the product listings, the website, any ads, and anything that shows customers mixing the two of you up: a review meant for you, a tag on the wrong account, a DM asking whether you're the same company. Those moments matter, because confusion is the heart of a trademark claim.

For websites, an archive capture is a good backup. The Internet Archive's Save Page Now feature saves a public page on demand, and each capture is stamped with the date and time it was taken. That's a record that doesn't depend on your own screenshots.

Then do the same for your side. Pull together the earliest dated proof you have of using your name: first invoices, first sales, first posts, the day the website went live, the first order you shipped to another state.

Step two: no angry message, and no public post

This is the hard part. You'll want to send a DM, or post a story telling your followers someone stole your name. Don't do either.

An angry message can't be taken back, and it usually goes out before you know whether you're even in the stronger position. It can also tip the other side off to file their own trademark application, clean up their pages, or start digging into your history. A public post is worse. It puts your version of events on the record, pulls your audience into a fight, and if any detail turns out to be wrong, that's now your problem.

A few quiet days cost you almost nothing. The documentation comes first.

Step three: figure out who used the name first, and where

In the United States, trademark rights generally come from using a name in business, not from forming a company or buying a domain. Your LLC filing isn't a trademark, and neither is a business license.

A federal registration changes the picture. The certificate is evidence that the owner has the exclusive right to use the mark in commerce for the goods or services it lists. And once an application registers, its filing date counts as nationwide use of the mark. The main exception is anyone who was already using the name before that date and hasn't abandoned it.

Without a registration, rights tend to follow where the name was actually used. The statute reflects this. When someone who used a name first defends against a later registration, that defense can be limited to the area where they prove their earlier use. So "who was first" really means who was first, where, and for what.

That's the checklist. Does either of you have a federal registration or a pending application? A state registration? (State and federal registrations work differently.) What exactly is each business selling? The same name on unrelated goods may not be a conflict at all, because the question is whether customers are likely to be confused.

Step four: use the platform's own reporting tools

If the use is on a marketplace or social platform, the platform's process may be faster than any letter. Each of the big ones has one, and each has its own rules.

Instagram's trademark report form asks for the registration itself: the country or office, the registration number, and a copy or a database link. The form also says Instagram will share the rights owner's name, the reporter's email address and the nature of the report with the person who posted the content. Use a business email.

Amazon has a publicly available form for reporting trademark, copyright and patent infringement, and brands enrolled in Brand Registry get its Report a Violation tool. Enrollment requires a registered trademark or a pending application. (Here's how Brand Registry works.)

Etsy's intellectual property policy has a reporting process for listings and a separate one for shop names and usernames. Etsy says it may give the seller a copy of the report, including the reporter's name and email address.

Shopify takes trademark notices through an online form that asks for the countries of registration and the registration number, and the merchant can file a response.

Notice the pattern. Most of these tools are built around a registration. And each report includes a statement, often under penalty of perjury, that you own the rights or are authorized to act for the owner. Don't file one you can't back up.

Step five: decide whether a cease-and-desist letter makes sense

A cease-and-desist letter is a formal demand to stop. It makes sense when your evidence shows you were first, the other business is selling related things under a confusingly similar name, and a platform report isn't available or didn't work.

It isn't a free move. A demand letter can prompt the other side to file their own application, look hard at your rights, or decide to fight. So it should be accurate, specific and proportionate, and it should go out only once you know your own position holds up.

Sometimes the right first letter isn't a demand at all. A short, calm note that lays out your dates and asks how they'd like to resolve it can end things quickly, especially when the other business didn't know you existed.

If you've found your name somewhere it shouldn't be and want to understand where you stand, you can see how the search and filing packages work on the services page, and the FAQs page answers most of what comes up before a first call.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the attorney (opens in a new tab)

(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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