Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Re: Business name and function

Yes. The law seeks to protect consumers against "likelihood of confusion" between goods and services they shop for and choose to buy. I would venture to make the conclusion that the two names are "confusingly similar" when applied to similar goods/services. The prior business has trademark rights to the name, regardless of whether it has registered the name as a trademark. As the rights holder to the name, the prior business may ask you to cease and desist using the similar name, may sue you to enjoin your use of the name, and sue you for damages. All that after you already invested your own money establishing the business and marketing materials under that name and then have to change the name on everything at your own expense.

You have done the right thing by seeing the problem ahead of time. You need to choose a different name for your business in order to avoid considerable legal entanglement and expense.

Best of luck.