I’ve seen better examples, where it was just someone’s name but, couldn’t think of the details off-hand. I turned up a few with a quick web search.
My point was that they can go after someone named Avery for using Avery in their business name. They may not have a reasonable legal basis for it and, their trademark probably won’t apply but, they can certainly take someone to court over it (or threaten to). At that point, it’s a battle of resources and determination.
I am absolutely not suggesting @NinaAvery should worry about this. I am pointlessly hijacking this thread and being unhelpfully pedantic for no good reason, though. So, I’ll be quiet now.
That’s grounds for application for the imposition of FRCP Rule 11 (only applies to federal civil cases but a trademark dispute should be moved to the federal court even if brought in state court as the USPTO has jurisdiction over trademarks).
Rule 11 sanctions attorneys for bringing “frivolous” actions that are unlikely to prevail. Since this is pretty settled case law, Rule 11 would apply - but only if raised by the defense.
The attorney can petition for immediate action on a claim for application of Rule 11 so you don’t have to burn a lot of time & money. The sanctions are the key because they can involve $ and prohibitions on future filings.
Unfortunately, many defense lawyers are happy to run the clock and don’t raise this nearly often enough or the courts would be far less gummed up with crap lawsuits.
I doubt my design name will ever be a threat to the Avery brand that they would attempt it…but if I ever come up with some product that is super cool that I plan to market, I would think of some name more unique to use.
