Legislation Calls for Trademark Bullies

President Bush signed a legislation last October stating large businesses with famous trademarks can sue businesses who have similar names “regardless of the presence or absence of actual of likely confusion, of competition, or of actual economic injury.” Before the legislation was signed, the law was more strict towards companies suing others. In 2003, Victoria’s Secret claimed an adult novelty store, named Victor’s Little Secret, damaged their good name. The court sided with the novelty store instead of Victoria’s Secret. This was because they were not able to prove actual harm toward the brand. Since lower standards are now set, large corporations are going to be going after the little companies whose names resemble theirs. For example, there has been a recent case between Starbuck’s Coffee and Sambuck’s Coffee, a tiny coffee shop in Oregon. Starbucks sued the owner because she refused to change the name of her shop after they offered her 10,000. The judge ended up in favor of Starbucks. Another case was between The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was a for-profit website co-founded by Jeffrey Goldberg. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sued the website for confusing the public. In the end, the name was changed to Jewsrock.com.