Georgia Start-Up Faces Battle of Chattahoochee

The organizers of a proposed community bank in Georgia are at odds with NationsBank Corp. over the start-up's name.

H.N. Padget, chief executive officer of Chattahoochee National Bank, which is now being organized, received a letter from NationsBank dated Nov. 26, alleging copyright infringement.

It seems there was a Chattahoochee Bank based in Marietta, Ga., that was purchased by Bank South Corp. of Atlanta in 1994. Bank South was bought by NationsBank in 1996, giving the Charlotte giant its claim to the name.

"We own the rights to Chattahoochee Bank name," said Lisa Lester, spokeswoman for NationsBank in Atlanta, "and we are planning to protect our interest." Ms. Lester added that NationsBank is willing to discuss making the name available, but did not give any details of what that would mean. The regional has sold name assignments to other start-up groups.

Mr. Padget said he is willing to fight for the name Chattahoochee, which is also the name of a river that flows through the Atlanta metropolitan area. The proposed bank is scheduled to open in the second quarter.

"Our attorneys tell us that in Georgia, if you don't use a name in commerce for two years, you lose the right to claim that name," Mr. Padget said. "We say we have the right to use the name of our community's wonderful river in the name of a bank for our community."

William H. Needle, an intellectual property attorney and senior partner with Needle and Rosenberg, Atlanta, agreed that the benchmark for whether a company name has been abandoned is lack of use for two years. But Mr. Needle, who is not working for either bank, said the case may not be so clear cut.

If NationsBank could produce, for example, an internal memo showing that the bank planned to use the name in the community, that could be enough to establish its use of Chattahoochee.

"The customers remember Chattahoochee," Mr. Needle said. "They are in the same area, going after the same potential customers. From a trademark point of view, these are factors that determine the likelihood of confusion."

Mr. Padget said attorneys for the two sides are now meeting, and that he is not sure what the next step is after that.

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