Trademark Infringement?

Subject: Re: Trademark Infringement?

Comments:
: This may confuse you...my head is spinning. Here is the deal. Two poeple work for a start up company that is filed as a sole proprietership without knowledge of partner. The information of the filing comes out, but is not dealt with because the intent is to file under corporate status. In all conversations(nothing in writing) the agreement is for both parties to be listed as directors of the corporation. Before that can be done. One partner..the one who filed for sole proprietership again goes behind the back of the partner and files the for corporate status with he/she and his/her spouse as directors, cutting the partner out. It is then said to the partner that he/she may stay on with the company as a consultant. So, he/she does. Now...the two would be partners are in different states. One in, lets say, Florida, and the other in...hmmm...North Carolina. The company has not had any existing business in the satate of Florida and has no client contacts, so the misplaced partner, now working as a contractor(again with no written agreement or contract) is now working only on existing business in North Carolina. Feeling railroaded, the expartner decides to incorporate a business in the same field, using the same name in the state of Florida, since the original company has no business there, while still continuing to assist the original company with business in North Carolina. The newly formed coporation in Florida purchases a domain name which is the same as the company name and puts a website up. Then the original campany ran by the expartner finds out about it when he/she goes to purchase the same domain. A battle is now commenced between the two companies...Now...here is the real problem. Neither the original corporation nor the newly formed corporation have a trademark on the company name. Please keep in mind that the corporation filings were done only two weeks apart. The original company files for a trademark on the company name in order to gain rights to the name. The question is...Can the original company successfully bring litigation agaist the newly formed corporation in Florida for using that name even though the name was in existence before the trademark was filed? : I thank you in advance for any advice you can give on this matter.

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