USA Help with local pilot

[ExpressAerial]

I am having an issue with another local pilot and am unsure what route to take at this point. A little background info: I registered my name with the state the first week of July. I have since passed the part 107 test and just two weeks ago formed my LLC, purchased a domain and have been investing a great deal of my savings in equipment and am committed to growing my business.
Fast forward to last week... I get a call from my attorney to tell me that my LLC was setup and finalized. Great! Glad to have that out of the way. The assistant then slams on the brakes when she said a local company popped up in her research on google with a similar name that would have prevented the LLC from going through, but they haven't registered with the state. OK, no big deal, as long as it went through, they probably just haven't gotten to it yet. I then get curious and look them up online. They have a nice website. I then realize that the domain is one letter off of mine. I bought (location)aerial.com. They have (location)aerials.com. I think to myself, well that's annoying, I'll just switch up the domain name a bit and it will be okay. I then look at their videos, they have several posted of local car shows and farmers markets where they are flying directly over hundreds of people. So I tell myself, they probably just started out and don't know the rules yet, but the videos span months apart and are as recent as a couple of weeks ago. I decide to call the guy, against the advice of my attorney who wanted to be the point of contact. But I don't want to discourage anyone, enough hurdles exist in starting a business already. He has yet to call me back. The more I think about it, the more paranoid I get that he will do something stupid and the FAA or my customers will see a headline and associate the guy with me. What should I do at this point?

 

[IrishSights]

I am having an issue with another local pilot and am unsure what route to take at this point. A little background info: I registered my name with the state the first week of July. I have since passed the part 107 test and just two weeks ago formed my LLC, purchased a domain and have been investing a great deal of my savings in equipment and am committed to growing my business.
Fast forward to last week... I get a call from my attorney to tell me that my LLC was setup and finalized. Great! Glad to have that out of the way. The assistant then slams on the brakes when she said a local company popped up in her research on google with a similar name that would have prevented the LLC from going through, but they haven't registered with the state. OK, no big deal, as long as it went through, they probably just haven't gotten to it yet. I then get curious and look them up online. They have a nice website. I then realize that the domain is one letter off of mine. I bought (location)aerial.com. They have (location)aerials.com. I think to myself, well that's annoying, I'll just switch up the domain name a bit and it will be okay. I then look at their videos, they have several posted of local car shows and farmers markets where they are flying directly over hundreds of people. So I tell myself, they probably just started out and don't know the rules yet, but the videos span months apart and are as recent as a couple of weeks ago. I decide to call the guy, against the advice of my attorney who wanted to be the point of contact. But I don't want to discourage anyone, enough hurdles exist in starting a business already. He has yet to call me back. The more I think about it, the more paranoid I get that he will do something stupid and the FAA or my customers will see a headline and associate the guy with me. What should I do at this point?

I don't think there is anything to be gained for your new company by tackling the other guy. It's not going to go anywhere positive...for you that is.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, however this should really have been spotted before you bought the domain name and registered the company.

I feel this could be costly but you need to get up on your feet asap without this sort of hassle. I suggest to register another name that cannot be confused and if necessary change the company name too. Otherwise your going to have a headache with this even though it's not strictly your fault...We'll apart from finding this out before formalisation was in place.

PFAW Holder
BNUC-S Qualified

 

[ExpressAerial]

I don't think there is anything to be gained for your new company by tackling the other guy. It's not going to go anywhere positive...for you that is.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, however this should really have been spotted before you bought the domain name and registered the company.

I feel this could be costly but you need to get up on your feet asap without this sort of hassle. I suggest to register another name that cannot be confused and if necessary change the company name too. Otherwise your going to have a headache with this even though it's not strictly your fault...We'll apart from finding this out before formalisation was in place.

PFAW Holder
BNUC-S Qualified

First, I don't want to "tackle" anyone. I just want to be sure I am doing things the right way and prevent headaches later. I performed a thorough search before picking my name and before I registered the name. In fact, I double-checked the web before I walked into the courthouse to file the DBA. The information I can find on him was all added to the web after the filing. I would hate to have to change names after having already paid for logos, marketing materials, filing the LLC...

 

[IrishSights]

First, I don't want to "tackle" anyone. I just want to be sure I am doing things the right way and prevent headaches later. I performed a thorough search before picking my name and before I registered the name. In fact, I double-checked the web before I walked into the courthouse to file the DBA. The information I can find on him was all added to the web after the filing. I would hate to have to change names after having already paid for logos, marketing materials, filing the LLC...

Sorry didn't pickup on the timing.

 

[Cactuswest]

Karma, the cost of redoing your marketing with a new name is nothing when compared to the peace of mind and potential headache/lawsuits avoidance.
The fact that you are asking the question says you are uneasy about it.
I would change the name myself.
By the way. I assume you leave in the US. You can easily create an LLC without a lawyer. It is a ton cheaper.

Do it now before you make a name for yourself in the business. It will a lot harder later. My 2c

 

[ExpressAerial]

Karma, the cost of redoing your marketing with a new name is nothing when compared to the peace of mind and potential headache/lawsuits avoidance.
The fact that you are asking the question says you are uneasy about it.
I would change the name myself.
By the way. I assume you leave in the US. You can easily create an LLC without a lawyer. It is a ton cheaper.

Do it now before you make a name for yourself in the business. It will a lot harder later. My 2c

Thanks for the reply Cactus. You made a great point that I will definitely have to ponder on. I do need to consider the impact that changing my name would have on my current clients.

 

[Dave Armbrust]

I agree, change your name. The only other option would be to get the other guy to change his name, and I do not think that will happen.

If you do not, and he continues to operate as you have described, then you too will enjoy the same bad press he will eventually get.

If his activity continues, then you will need to contact the FSDO to report this. You do not want that report to be muddled by the similar names. The other guy will think it is all about the name issue rather than the safety issue you have observed.

Your customers will understand, especially considering what the other guy is doing is illegal.

 

[Dr. Ifly Drones]

I live this every day. I have my own website and there are probably a dozen others in my major metropolitan area and 90% are not Part 107 certified, have any insurance or a business lic. More often than not, they have 1 Phantom they use to do everything. I can tell you now that while websites and company names can assist with business building nothing is better than directly marketing yourself in person with the local production companies. I used to try and sell services to real estate companies but, I rapidly found that was a total waste of my time. RE agents are super cheap and they won't even pay for decent professional photography of the house much less aerials. If you have an exclusive seller of million dollar plus listing then maybe.

I can understand and have empathy for your current issues with the name and website proximity. Try not to and move on. No one can sue you for their activities based upon the similarities alone.

 

[Cactuswest]

I live this every day. I have my own website and there are probably a dozen others in my major metropolitan area and 90% are not Part 107 certified, have any insurance or a business lic. More often than not, they have 1 Phantom they use to do everything. I can tell you now that while websites and company names can assist with business building nothing is better than directly marketing yourself in person with the local production companies. I used to try and sell services to real estate companies but, I rapidly found that was a total waste of my time. RE agents are super cheap and they won't even pay for decent professional photography of the house much less aerials. If you have an exclusive seller of million dollar plus listing then maybe.

I can understand and have empathy for your current issues with the name and website proximity. Try not to and move on. No one can sue you for their activities based upon the similarities alone.

You can be sued or named in a lawsuit for anything. Just to defend yourself to get dismissed from one takes time and money. I prefer to minimize exposure.

 

[Chris Gooderham]

Karma, As we haven't seen your website, may I suggest you quickly update it stating in bold Letters on your header: 107 Approved for ....., Insured to $X,000,000, And then go right into a powerful sentence that stresses safety. i.e. Would you get on a plane with a pilot who says, they can fly this thing, but doesn't have a license?....(you fill in the punch line)
Clearing stating some of the Do's and Don'ts that you follow, because you are trained and licensed, like. Flying over People is dangerous and irresponsible, etc.

Your Brand Logo? is it Distinct enough to make a clear differentiation from the unlicensed guy?
Potentially Update your Logo with your 107 License#, really push the differences between you and the unlicensed guy, and for that matter the hundreds of others out there posing.

With all this said, as you likely haven't made contact with the other person yet, they could show up with everything covered, including waivers for the picks they posted, who knows. Without the facts, there will be some guess work here.
But the message stays the same, differentiate your company from the other Guy, and any other unlicensed company.

A name change would make this all go away, imho. Sounds like the Other Guy should be changing his name, not you.

 

[ExpressAerial]

Karma, As we haven't seen your website, may I suggest you quickly update it stating in bold Letters on your header: 107 Approved for ....., Insured to $X,000,000, And then go right into a powerful sentence that stresses safety. i.e. Would you get on a plane with a pilot who says, they can fly this thing, but doesn't have a license?....(you fill in the punch line)
Clearing stating some of the Do's and Don'ts that you follow, because you are trained and licensed, like. Flying over People is dangerous and irresponsible, etc.

Your Brand Logo? is it Distinct enough to make a clear differentiation from the unlicensed guy?
Potentially Update your Logo with your 107 License#, really push the differences between you and the unlicensed guy, and for that matter the hundreds of others out there posing.

With all this said, as you likely haven't made contact with the other person yet, they could show up with everything covered, including waivers for the picks they posted, who knows. Without the facts, there will be some guess work here.
But the message stays the same, differentiate your company from the other Guy, and any other unlicensed company.

A name change would make this all go away, imho. Sounds like the Other Guy should be changing his name, not you.

I really appreciate those suggestions Chris. I will definitely use the safety suggestions and add the license number. So far, I have reached out to the guy and he has yet to return my call. I am having my logo redone, as his was almost identical including the colors. I am also filing a DBA under the name that he is using, he is listed under an alternate name. That way my bases are covered. I am going to differentiate myself as much as possible, without changing my name. I am doing work for a Fortune 50 company and my name has been spread up the chain, would be difficult to change it without a negative impact now.

 

[Chris Gooderham]

It almost sounds like this individual is deliberately trying to copy your image to get your credibility. I'm not sure how appropriate my next suggestion is, but if you could post this current issue you are dealing with, on your site, but keeping it non-disparaging to the other guy specifically, but also telling the truth. I think this is a pro-active measure for you and your customers.
What are the other guys next steps? Or what may have he already been doing? He could call your current clients and try to take some of your work? (posing as you) Or worse, take out a line of credit, who knows. He's obviously very nervous right now, since he saw your email, me might be lawyering up before he responds, don't wait to long.
Your Attorney should probably get involved. It may take nothing more than a registered letter to the other guy to change his name. As this doesn't sound fair to you.