Is this a trademark issue?
I work with a place that is the East Ky Museum of the Macabre and there is another place that is just Museum of the Macabre is the location enough to make a distinction and different entity or would there have to be a rewording on our part?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
The phrase "museum of the macabre" is a registered trademark of Richard Fink III, in Philadelphia, PA, not including the word "museum".
Adding a generic geographic term to a trademark is rarely sufficient to distinguish it from the federally registered trademark. However, it's not technically an "infringement" until they want to enter the same market using a similar brand. This would raise questions of how "distinctive" the registered trademark is and whether it should have be issued without a broader disclaimer of descriptive elements.
For instance, if I have a federal registration for "Hilfinger" for clothing, and you later say "California Hilfinger" on your own clothing brand, there is nothing stopping me from putting you out of business for trademark infringement the moment I decide to open my California shops.