"We are having our attorneys prepare a cease and desist letter to send to the company that is promoting the imitation product," said Inge Calderon, executive vice president of the American Supply Association.

Central Brass Manufacturing Co., an ASA associate member, received a solicitation from Source One Communications, Villanova, Pa., asking for funds to participate in what the letter called "a remake of the Source ASA program that was discontinued a year or so ago," said Kevin Price, director, ASA Center for Advancing Technology.

"The people at Central Brass were not certain if the letter was from us, so they called us," he said. "This is causing some confusion among our members."

ASA officials believe the solicitations for the "imitation" program, which is offered under the name Source +Plus, began the week of June 14, Price said. ASA's response has been to fax a letter to all members and associate members and all Source ASA participants to alert them to the situation.

In the advisory letter, Price said: "As you know, the [Source ASA] program was not discontinued; the ASA Center for Advancing Technology continues to publish the CD-ROM catalog known today as Source ASA+. Do not be confused by this information, and we suggest you have no contact with this company. Do not erroneously obligate your company by returning the contract by fax. In no way is this solicitation connected with ASA or the Center for Advancing Technology, and it is not the well-known Source ASA+ software."

At press time, Price said that no decision had been made regarding a possible lawsuit.

"We are going to aggressively defend our rights," he said. "We put a lot of work into Source ASA+. We see it as an important industry tool, and we don't want to see it misrepresented.

"Our first concern is for our industry members," Price said. "This unknown outfit has infringed on our product's good name. They are even brazen enough to use our own Source ASA literature. They have misleadingly stated that Source ASA was cancelled last year when in fact we have continued publication without interruption."

The latest release of Source ASA+ was shipped to participants the week of June 14, Price said.

"We have invested a lot of money in upgrading the whole program so it is Internet compatible," Calderon said. "The company is violating our trademark. We are concerned that our members may be misled and invest in something inferior to our product."

Officials at Source One Communications did not return phone calls from Supply House Times.

In its solicitation letter, Source One Communications asked for a $100 refundable deposit to participate in Source +Plus and promised a discount to those who responded by June 30.