Can you have the same name as a company but for a different type of business?

[taillefer]

for example, say you want to start a clothing business called Flight clothing, but there is already a trademarked business called Flight that is a physical fitness program. can You have a same name if its a whole different type of business?

[hyun-su]

for example, say you want to start a clothing business called Flight clothing, but there is already a trademarked business called Flight that is a physical fitness program. can You have a same name if its a whole different type of business?

Especially if you're in the same business it would probably not turn out well for you to use the name an existing company already has. Law suits and copyright laws will come into play.
You both can't obviously have one name...You didn't tell us what your company name is, and what you aspire within the company. Do you wanna be a large, world wide known company, or a just company within the borders of Denmark
That's like starting a company with the name "Google" on it which would be unfavorable in return concerning legal issues.
You need to check a fictious name statement directory. Many companies file for all forms of the name, try changing something

[ayize]

Yes, there are hundreds of businesses that co-exist with others having similar or identical names in DIFFERENT types of business. Trademark protection is specific to goods and services of a particular nature and can ONLY be protected where use of a similar brand would create a "likelihood of confusion".

For instance, there are currently 837 pending or registered trademarks in the USPTO using the word "flight". See, the word "flight" is not a particularly distinctive brand and those using it for their business brand have only limited rights to prevent others from using the same word as a brand.

Other things, such as fanciful words, are MUCH more distinctive, such as KODAK or EXXON or FRIENDLY'S, making it that much harder to start up an unrelated business using anything similar, regardless of any potential overlap.

Also, technically, a business name is NOT a trademark until and unless it is used in association with particular goods or services in commerce. If you never sell any goods (only service) then your company name is unlikely to "compete" with any company that only sells the "goods" under that name.

Here's one that I came across recently: MCDONALDS brand drive-in restaurants, in use since 1948 and registered in 1961, along with MCDONALDS brand valves and faucets, in use since 1908 and registered in 1953. Because nobody buying from one is confused about buying from the other, there is absolutely no problem with these two companies using identical trademarks in different fields.

[adaya]

If the name is Trademarked, then it is trademarked

end of story

when these laws first came into full-force

there was a small auto repair shop in North Alabama called 3M ---- there had been 3 brothers with a last name starting with M who got together to name it..... in fact, it had been in business since the 1920s and passed down generationally to family

Along comes 3M tape people...... who have a national trademark on that name... and they demand cease & desist of name use... as well as "restitution" -- it went to court & 3M tape people won, even though 3M tape name was in use after 3M auto repair

Same thing with a drycleaner.... Classic Cleaners or something like that


These small businesses who got nailed were my clients at that time.
It was sad to see these things happen