Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Florida

Re: Trademark

You are playing with fire. The whole attraction of using a name that is a near miss of Playboy's famous trademark is that it creates in the minds of the consumer an association with the other mark. If you were to launch such a venture, I would expect that you would receive a demand letter from Playboy Enterprises' counsel within a couple of weeks of launch. That company vigorously polices its trademark rights, even to the extent of a long-running case filed for alleged metatag infringement by Terri Welles, a former Playmate of the Year.

By all means, look at the case history of Playboy v. Welles, but bear in mind that she had a meritorious defense of fair use; your case would be a dead loser on grounds of confusing similarity with their Playboy trademark.

Try a different name. Best wishes,

LDWG

Re: Trademark

Using the Payboy mark (whether or not it is registered by Playboy)would be a bad idea. There is a definite likelhood of confusion between that mark and the Playboy mark in similar services. You would open yourself up to significant legal liability if you used it, especially since you said it is registered. Be forewarned!