Legal Question in Business Law in Ohio

Re: Business Names

I completely agree with Mr. Miller, and I am a trademark attorney. The common sense business approach is absolutely appropriate.

You can retain a trademark attorney to do some research and give you a full written opinion.

Re: Business Names

First off, I am not a trademark or copyright lawyer, so my views here are as a general business attorney trying to minimize your risks. When dealing with names, website addresses, and other intellectual property, you may want to speak to an attorney who specializes in those areas.

From a risk-management perspective, are you willing to fight a potentially long, drawn out legal battle if they sue you? Even if you are in the right and may ultimately win, litigation is very expensive not only financially but also emotionally and temporally. If nothing else, this takes away from the time and energy you have to devote to your site and ezine.

That being said, I suggest first taking a common sense approach. Is a normal person likely to confuse your site and publication with RM? Would they think your sites or publications were connected with each other? If you think the answer to either of these questions may be "yes," then I can almost guarantee that RM will think so too and you will hear from their lawyers once they find out about you. From this standpoint, it might make more sense to better differentiate yourself from RM through your site and publication names.

Again, the area of intellectual property law and copyrights/trademarks are very specific and detailed. For more information on that aspect of your decision, you should contact an attorney that focuses in those areas.

If you have any other questions about the general business end of your situation, feel free to contact me.