A lawyer for Christopher Poole, the founder of the popular online forum 4chan, has sent a letter to the startup firm moot.it asking it to change its name. Poole has gone by the nickname "moot" since 2003, and his lawyer argues that gives him a legal claim to be the only one to use it in the context of online discussions.

"The pseudonym MOOT has become part of Mr. Poole's protectable right of publicity under New York State law (and other state laws) and the term MOOT functions as a famous trademark utilized by 4chan," the letter, which was posted to Betabeat, reads.

The startup in question, located at moot.it has not yet launched. Its website promises "forums and commenting re-imagined."

"In view of the strong association in the minds of a substantial part of the Internet community between MOOT and commenting and discussion, it is unavoidable that your continued use of MOOT as a trademark would lead to confusion," the letter says. It notes that a comment on Hacker News asks "is this related to the moot?" Poole's lawyer argues this illustrates the danger that moot.it's branding choice will cause people to incorrectly assume the site is associated with Poole.

But the firm appears to be unimpressed by Poole's threats. "Christopher Poole and his lawyer insist we change moot.it to something else. hilarity ensues #lol," the company tweeted on Monday afternoon.