Hi, so I have a question. I have a page on facebook already with the name “All Balled Up,” and someone in August started it on here. I actually coined the name as of July of this year and have a base already. How would I go about contacting this person in regards to the name and such? Would it be ok for there to be 2 All Balled Up’s? I’m new on the business end and was just wanting a little insight. Thanks!
Unless you have your business registered and your name protected there is nothing much you can do. Other than get in contact with the user of that account and ask them to hand it over, you might just have to make people aware that YOU are the guy from Facebook.
As for your name, it is a common phrase that is used in day to day conversation, so I’m not sure you can use the " I coined the term" as a argument with that user.
What I meant by coined the term was name for business, sorry. I don’t know how I would prove to him I’m the owner of the fb page beside be like Here is my name, here is my page connected to the name here ya go.
I guess your best chance is maybe showing a screenshot of your page and it saying you are the owner. But I dont think there is much you can do if the user just says “no, I wanna keep it.”.
Either way be very careful trying to prove you are you, you don’t want to hand over any personal/sensitive info that could be used against you fraud wise.
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Unless you have registered the business name and or trademark the name, you did not coined the name, creating a name on Facebook or on a forum is just creating an ID.
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Here are some resources about how Trademark rights work in the US. We are not lawyers however, so we cannot be sure that this information is completely accurate and this message doesn’t constitute any kind of legal advice.
Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services. About Trademark Infringement | USPTO
In the United States, it is not registration, but actual use of a designation as a mark that creates rights and priority over others. Thus, the rule is that ownership of a mark goes to the first-to-use, not the first-to-file. This article talks about first use: Dates of Use | USPTO
Likelihood of confusion exists between trademarks when the marks are so similar and the goods and/or services for which they are used are so related that consumers would mistakenly believe they come from the same source. Infringement can occur even with different spellings that sound alike which are in the same industries. Trademark Search
So it’s our understanding that the individual who can demonstrate that they first began using a mark is the one who has rights to it, regardless of any registration of TM.
MorphMarket will not willingly and knowingly support Trademark infringement, however it can be difficult for us to make definitive judgements about what situations constitute infringement.
It’s best to try to first respectfully approach the other seller. In many cases, they have unknowingly come up with the same name and did not intentionally steal anything. They are also likely to not know how trademark law works. But in many cases, by showing them that you’ve been using the name for much longer, they will willingly change their name.
If that doesn’t work:
- Please contact us (via email) and provide evidence of your earliest use of this trademark. In the US, First Use determines rights ownership.
- We will then contact the seller with your concerns and if they wish to contest it, we will ask them to provide evidence of their earliest use of the mark.
- If the two of you cannot reach an agreement, and if we cannot make a confident determination of your first use, then you will need to file a court action. At that time you may obtain an injunction for them using the mark.
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Thanks so much for those resources, I tried to find a messaging feature on his seller page but couldn’t find any and he had no animals for sale. How would I go about messaging him?
Thank you!
Thank you guys for all your help. I decided to change the name a little so he can keep it! 
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