I just started a health club called "Pure fitness health club". I just realized that there is a "Pure Fitness" in CA. Am I at risk of getting sued although my name has health club in it and their's don't?
Hello, my name is XXXX XXX Im researching your answer now.
As far as business names go, there can be different types of intellectual property protection, ie, copyright and trademark.
If the name is XXXXXXXXXXX, XXXXX is a risk of liability.
What usually happens is a cease and desisit letter is sent out to the infringer.
With that said, there are also test a court will use to see if the names are XXXXXXX XXXXXX to envoke infringement.
This is called the substantial similarity test.
Without getting into litigation, there is no way to tell whether your business name infringes on someones elses trademark. At this point, I would continue as usually until and if you ever recieve a cease and desist letter.
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