Ngl my SaaS is called "TaskFlow" — been running for 2 years, ~$30K MRR. Yesterday discovered another company launched "TaskFlowPro" in the same space (project management). I have the trademark registered. Is this infringement? What should I do?
counterpoint: reaching out informally can sometimes backfire. they might go defensive or even try to claim they had the name first. a formal C&D creates a paper trail and shows you're serious. but Ed's approach works too sometimes
Found their founder on LinkedIn. Company is 3 people, raised a small pre-seed. Should I reach out directly or go formal?
UPDATE: Reached out to founder directly. He was actually really cool about it — said he did a quick trademark search but missed my registration. They're rebranding to something completely different. Even offered to add a redirect from their old domain to mine for 6 months. Faith in humanity restored.
Love to see it. Most founders are reasonable people who don't want legal drama. The redirect offer is classy.
For anyone reading this in the future - I'd also suggest checking Product Hunt and other launch platforms as part of your trademark monitoring. That's how I found a competitor with a similar name before they got too big. Way easier to address early.
There are also trademark monitoring services that'll alert you when similar marks get filed. Costs maybe $200-300/year but worth it if you've invested in a brand.