Is an URL a Trade Name?
In the past few years, several states have loosened their restrictions on law firm names. New York, New Jersey, and Texas have all concluded that a trade name that is not misleading is permissible. (In fact, Texas revised all of its advertising rules—7.01 (c)discusses law firm names.)See our prior coverage here.
Interestingly, Florida has permitted trade names for some time as long as the name is not misleading and used consistently on letterhead, business cards, advertising materials, etc.
Recently, The Florida Bar’s Advertising Committee was confronted with a novel inquiry which asked whether the broad use of a URL is tantamount to using a trade name. The proper firm name was included on all materials, and there was a disclaimer with the URL; however, the URL was prominent and “catchy.” The URL in the inquiry was 500Bankruptcy.com. The Committee debated the issue and in a 9-2 vote concluded that 500Bankruptcy.com was not being used as a trade name.
And so it goes…Read more about the Florida discussion here.
