Hi,

A few weeks back myself and four colleagues brainstormed for a name for our site. When we decided on the name, we searched to see if the domain .com was available for it. It was. We registered the .com and .co.uk extensions and set up our website.

A few days ago I received an irate email from someone who has the same name used on a blog and a facebook account.

She is claiming I have stolen the name and in breach of copyright.

Surely, if I own the domain, it is mine?

Three days ago this person purchased the .net extension for the name.

Should I ignore and carry on as normal or have I overstepped the line?

Your advice and help would be greatly appreciated as this woman is emailing me twice daily...

And do they own the trademark associated with the name?

If not. Tough!!

If they actually own the trademark they may have a case. If not, I would simply ignore them.

I don't think you can copyright a name, but you can trademark it and if she said you stole her copyright, she probably does not know what she is talking about.

If you are running a business with the name maybe see if you can have the name trademarked then you will never have problems again.