There was an interesting article in the Austin American Statesman about an attorney that is registering assumed names for her client (where she is the president of the client) using names of existing restaurants.
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/other/2009/08/06/0806brees.html
They then send a demand type letter to the company that has been using the name saying they will “sell” it back to them for $20,000. Don’t be taken in by something like this. If someone has been using the name in commerce they have acquired common law trademark rights to the exclusion of other similarly confusing names in the local area. The fact that someone files an assumed name certificate either at the state or county level is nothing by a recording function. The county certainly does not perform any kind of search on the name. They just stamp it as recorded for the $12.00 filing fee.
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