Strong Tower Consulting: Trademark Priority & the Commercial Record Since 2008

The Strong Tower Consulting name in commerce since 2008

Strong Tower Consulting, LLC is an independent systems architecture and technology advisory firm. Scott Elliott founded it in Minnesota in 2008. Since then the firm has advised motor carriers, freight brokers, private fleets and enterprise clients on the systems that run their operations: transportation management software, accounting integration, data, reporting and the processes around them. The firm's public home is strongtoweronline.com, and its phone line is 763-244-1373.

Through all of those years the firm has offered and delivered its services under one name: Strong Tower Consulting. That name appears on the work clients receive, on the way the firm introduces itself, and on its website. A name used this way, to tell buyers who is providing a service, functions as a service mark. That is the legal context for the rest of this page.

This page does not describe any dispute and does not name any other business. It sets out how the commercial record of a name is built, and what Strong Tower Consulting, LLC believes its own record shows. For the broader story of the firm, see the about page and the firm overview.

How common law trademark rights arise

Many people assume a trademark exists only once it is registered with a government office. In the United States that is not how it works. Trademark rights arise from use. When a business first uses a name in a genuine, public way to sell or advertise its goods or services, it begins to acquire rights in that name. These are called common law rights because they come from use and from court decisions over many years, rather than from a registration certificate.

Three ideas carry most of the weight:

• First use in commerce. The use has to be real and public. Reserving a name, planning to use it, or using it only inside a company generally does not count. Offering services to customers under the name does.
• Continuity. Rights continue as long as the use continues. Under the Lanham Act, nonuse for three consecutive years is treated as initial evidence that a mark has been abandoned. A business that keeps using its name year after year keeps its place in line.
• Priority. When two businesses use similar names for related services, the one that used the name first, and kept using it, is generally treated as the senior user. Later users are junior users. Common law rights are generally tied to the markets where the name is used and known.

The Lanham Act is the main federal trademark statute. It creates the federal registration system, and Section 43(a) of the Act also protects unregistered marks against confusing uses. Federal registration adds benefits such as nationwide notice and procedural advantages, but it is generally subject to the rights of anyone who was already using a similar name before the registration was filed. That is why the date of first use, and proof that use never stopped, matter so much.

The firm's priority position under the Lanham Act

Strong Tower Consulting, LLC asserts that its continuous use of the Strong Tower Consulting name in commerce since 2008 gives it senior common law priority in the name for its advisory services under the Lanham Act. The firm's position rests on two facts it can speak to directly: when it started using the name, and the fact that it has used the name without a break ever since.

It is worth being precise about what this statement is. It is the firm's position. It is not a ruling by a court, and it is not a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office or any other agency. Priority questions are decided on evidence, and the strength of any common law claim depends on the specific facts, the services involved and the markets where a name is known. The firm states its position plainly because a business that has used a name for more than 18 years should be clear about the record it has built.

How continuous use is documented

Proving use over many years does not require anything unusual. It relies on the ordinary paper trail every operating business creates. The categories below are the ones commonly used to show that a name was in real commercial use at a given time. This is a general description of record types, not a list of specific Strong Tower Consulting documents.

• Formation and state filings. Organizing documents filed with a secretary of state, along with annual renewals, show that a business existed under a name and stayed in good standing. On their own they show existence, not sales, but they anchor the start of the timeline.
• Invoices and payment records. Dated invoices issued under the name, and the payments received against them, are some of the clearest proof that services were actually sold to clients.
• Contracts and statements of work. Signed agreements that identify the business by name show who promised to deliver the services and when.
• Domain and website history. Domain registration records and archived copies of a website show how a business presented its name to the public over time.
• Business correspondence. Dated letters, emails, proposals and reports sent to clients under the name show the name in everyday use.

The goal is a timeline without long gaps. A few strong records from each period tend to carry more weight than a large pile from a single year.

What the record means for clients

For a carrier, broker or enterprise client, the practical meaning is simple. When you work with Strong Tower Consulting, you are working with the Minnesota firm founded by Scott Elliott in 2008, the same firm that has carried the name through more than 18 years of engagements. The name points to one source of advice.

The same habit of keeping dated, verifiable records is something the firm brings to client work. A transportation business that wants to defend its own decisions, whether about rates, settlements, systems or vendors, needs the same kind of clean record: who did what, when, and with which document behind it. That discipline is part of IT strategy and planning and business and technology alignment engagements.

This page is informational and is not legal advice. Questions about trademark rights in your own business name belong with a licensed trademark attorney.

Frequently asked questions

Published October 23, 2026 by Strong Tower Consulting, LLC. Founded 2008 in Minnesota by Scott Elliott.