What are the legalities regarding taking a fictional company's name, from a book, for an actual company name?

Question

Copyrighted material. Actual company is very different from the one cleverly named in the book.

Answer 1

That's a really interesting question & not one I've ever ran across before. I strongly recommend speaking to an intellectual property attorney before attempting to do this. While the US Copyright Office & the US Patent and Trademark Office don't speak to each other, so to speak, there could be issues if...

1) The publisher/author has trademarked the name
2) Another company has already trademarked the name
3) The publisher/author is litigious

I posted some links for further research. Hope that helps!

Answer 2

If the similarity is purely coincidental, you shouldn't have any serious problems. If your company will be modeled after the fictional company (even in part) you should secure written authorization from the author.

Answer 3

If the name is not copyrighted, you can use it. However, if the business becomes successful, plan on a lawsuit coming eventually with the intention of getting you to settle out of court.

Answer 4

Names cannot be copyrighted, they can be trademarked, but not copyrighted, so unless teh author took out a trademark on that name, you are ok, as long as that is all you borrow

Answer 5

You first need to make sure no one else has already done this.