Car club

[simook]

Washington/Oregon State Law

hello, I am one of the founders of a car club, Northwest Z Assocation "nwza.org". i consider us a non profit organization but we are still unregistered due to funds. We do not make any money. in fact my founder and I spend more money on NWZA than what it brings in.

Recently another car club Northwest Z "northwestz.org" sent us a email saying we were infringing upon there non profit name, which is registered. Because our names are clearly different and we advertise our name as NWZA were as they advertise there name Northwest Z. I saw no need to get in a argument about it.
But as of two days ago they contacted my other founder and said that they also just registered NWZA and Northwest Z Association as a non profit and that we must change our name now.

I know the first email was a scare tactic but being that we are not making money, do they have any grounds? Im not going to change anything until i see it in paper. What do you guys think about this? If you need more info just let me know..

Really there just butt hurt because we are bigger and better.

 

[quincy]

With trademarks, it is almost all about the first use of a trademark in commerce, and consumer confusion. Quite frankly, I had to read your post three times before I noticed the differences in your organization's name and Northwest Z's organization.

I think they may have a legitimate action against you here, especially since both of your organizations are car clubs (which increases the confusion between your group and theirs), the names are similar and, at least to me, confusing, and they have registered their mark and all its variations with the USPTO, which gives them added protection and a greater ability to prohibit the use by others.

I would consult with an IP attorney in your area to see if you have any chance at all of keeping your non-profit's name as it is, but I am thinking the odds are not in your favor.

However, because trademarks are not an area of expertise for me, you may wish to re-post your question in the Copyright/Trademark section of this forum. Forum member Divgradcurl posts there and he is very knowledgeable about trademarks. I am not sure he wanders up to this section of the forum very often, though, so he may not see your question here.