Starting a business with a similar sounding name of an already existing business

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Starting a business with a similar sounding name of an already existing business

Hi,
I am planning to start an online store selling jewelry herein Canada. The site
targets customers based both in Canada and USA. I already registered a domain
name slight variation to the actual word but I found that there already exists
a company doing business in USA under a similar name. Will I get in any trouble
selling into USA.
Thanks,

Asked on December 21, 2017 under Business Law, Alaska

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

It depends on whether this other company is doing a similar thing to you, selling to a similar potential customer base. (With internet sales, however, the customer bases are almost by definition the same: anyone who shops online. It's not like brick-and-mortar stores, which typically have limited geographic scope.) There can be businesses with similar names--there are many businesses named "Acme," for example--so long as there is no reasonable likelihood of customer confusion. Example: say that the name you have come up with is "Northern Lights." If there is already a "Northern Lites" online jewler (or retailer which offers jewlery as part of its line), that would likely be illegal due to the likelihood of customer confusion, such as under the Lanham Act. (This answer, by the way, is under U.S. law; no opinon as to Canadian law is hereby rendered.)
On the other hand, if the existing "Northern Lites" is a lighting designer/manufacturer, or sells Nordic-inspired light/diet cuisine, you'd be fine: there'd be no reasonable likelihood of customer confusion.


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