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[Myriam]

Hi,
I would like to register a .com domain for my informative blog about wine. The name choosen is a latin word expressing the essence of my site.

Unfortunately I've just discovered that a famous international designer has a last name very similar to the word I choose (only one letter differ). He registered his name at the US Trademark Office with other words ("Mr Smith's Super Design Studio").

Of course we operate in very different industries without any likelihood of confusion.

What do you thing about this strange case? Is it safe to register the domain and operate my site? Should I choose an entierly different name?

Many thanks
Myriam


Note: names cited above are fictional.

[JSonnabend]

It seems that twice or so each week, someone posts here some variation of "My mark is x and this other mark is y.  Can I use my mark? (these are not the real marks)"

Every time the answer is the same, namely, there's no way to  give meaningful guidance off the cuff, and none whatsoever without knowing the actual marks (imagine that, the real facts are important).

Myriam, you're right to be inquiring as you have -- you've identified a potential issue for your website.  You'll need to either (a) post the real names here to get a little bit of guidance of limited value (and that may or may not be a good idea); or (b) talk directly to an attorney in confidence about this issue.  If your website is going to be a commercial venture, then option (b) is merely proper business "due diligence", if you will.

- Jeff