Simplified Version

This article by Brian Bethel does help clear up one common misunderstanding. Having a trademark does not allow the trademark holder to monopolize use of that particular word or phrase. The down side of the article is that it makes the test for determining likelihood of confusion sound easy. There are cases almost too numerous to mention about when a comparison of two marks actually results in a likelihood of confusion, and the inconsistency about results is well-known. As is often the case, what can appear to be relatively straight forward turns out to be anything but in a courtroom.