I ran into a big problem today. It looks like there is another company called "altera". My company is AlteraHosting. When i registered this domain, i had no idea there was another company called "Altera". Is this a copyright violation?

Nope... don't need to worry :)

I'm thinking that if that "altera" was a webhosting company also, it might be copyright infringement. But I don't know the judicial system, so I guess I'm not in a position to comment on this one :)

if you had named yourself "Altera" then you would be maken a mistake..

But you named yourself "AlteraHosting" so it is ok..

Ok Thanks!

It wouldn't be copyright infringement in any case. If it were anything, it would be trademark infringement... but a quick glance at their trademark filings doesn't reveal anything related to web hosting or the Internet, so you should be fine.

Remember, trademark law originates from "fair trading" law... the central question is always "could this lead to customer confusion?".

i had the same problem ,it boils down to how much are you willing to spend if needed to keep your name .i decided to take the easy route and use another name.
on another note is this other company a reputable company ,do you want to have a similar name to them ?
i would wait and call their hand ,wait to see if they go as far as an injunction
i looked at their site they dont seem to be offering hosting ,so there is no case for passing off.
could you be causing confusion within the market place ,well i would say not likely
my case was different we both offered hosting ,but in your case i would not give in to them .
be very careful what you say to them under no circumstances offer to sell them the domain this could be held against you .they may claim that you registered the domain with the intention of selling it on .
regards copyright alone then if the name is a made up name like google etc then they may have a case ,if the name is found in a dictionary then they have no case .
also if your company abd their company are in different countries then it will be difficult to bring the case to the courts

I agree with easily, if your hosting company isn't so big, just change the name to be safe now while you are small, because when you grow, changing the name might be really hard.

Well theres a cogent-hosting.com domain :D

Name servers:
startmeup.2for1hosting.com
rambleon.2for1hosting.com

Start of registration: 2002-03-20 06:29:42
Registered through: 2003-03-20 06:29:42:

Originally posted by cperciva
It wouldn't be copyright infringement in any case. If it were anything, it would be trademark infringement... but a quick glance at their trademark filings doesn't reveal anything related to web hosting or the Internet, so you should be fine.

Remember, trademark law originates from "fair trading" law... the central question is always "could this lead to customer confusion?". this is 100% correct. you have nothing to worry about.

if your name were michael jordan, and you were selling tacos, and you started a place up called Michael Jordan's Taco Stand, you'd still be in the clear because Michael Jordan doesn't sell Tacos. And as long as you didn't mention the famous Michael Jordan, you'd be fine.

Now.... underwear and sneakers, you would be in trouble for selling those...