QUESTION
Businesses:"Ear Candie" (retails)& "Ear Candee"(only online). Same name, different spelling, Same category, diff. state. Is the trademark/name safe?
Asked on Jun 29th, 2016 on Business Law - New York
More details to this question:
Hi! I'm starting a business and I'm having an issue with the name. I want to name it Ear Candie (small business), but noticed the name was taken upon setting up the website. Same name/spelling. Same category but sells product through retail, not online as I will. Different state as well. My question, if I change the spelling to Ear Candee, Kandie, etc., will it still be infringing on trademark name in terms of it sounding the same even though spelled differently?
1 ANSWER
I'm not an expert in intellectual property law, but it seems pretty clear to me that the changed spelling will do little to improve your position. The question is whether the similarity in name may lead to consumer confusion, i.e. will consumers dealing with "ear candee" know that they are dealing with a different company than "ear candie". Again, I'm not an expert, but I think you'd have a big problem.
Answered on Jul 01st, 2016 at 7:30 AM