How is your business organized? Is "Production Construction" a corporation, a dba, or what?

If your company is registered with the state as a LLC, LLP ,or INC they will be unable to register with the state. It's worth a call to your attorney. The customer confusion could be a problem because you are the more established business. Good luck!

Must be registered or you're SOL.
The 'new' company could come and register the name in your State and take it away from you..... 11 years or not.

Registration costs money, State, Country, NA or World registration.

Call a cheap lawyer today and get it searched, then registered, you'll have to register in the competitors State too; then you can act against them.

Do you have a business license in your county with your name? That should be all you need to force them to desist.

If you are a properly formed DBA (done whatever you are required to do with your county to operate as a DBA), they can't use your name. Likely they didn't know, and a letter will get them to stop.

As long as your business name is registered with the county or state, nobody should be allowed to use it. When i registered my contracting business, I went through a list of about 23 names i wanted to use that where already taken. I ended up using my last name which I originally didnt want to.

Bingo.

There are three companies using a variation of your name in NC. I assume you're one of them.

http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/searchresults.aspx?onlyactive=OFF&Words=ALL&search str=production%20construction

I don't think you are "Fuched". Two of the three companies look like they were dissolved and no longer around. The third...

In California, if I form a business and file as DBA, I really just have to publish in a local paper the proper info and if no one contests within a month, I can use the name. I think you have enough info to show you have been around since 97 and that no one has contested your business name. As for the new company, I think you should let them know (on your letterhead) that you have been in bus sine 97 and that you can show proof of DBA.

Good luck!

lawyer up

There's a very good chance that any lawyers who post here also have ads in the yellow pages :eek:

;)

Despite my choive of profession, I am a firm believer that any time you can keep lawyers out of your life the better you are.

What happened? Did he back down?

I would still register everything to keep this from happening again. Doing it right the first time (now) very well may save you a lot of hassles in the future.