Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Florida

Am I doing something wrong??

There is a pretty common marketing letter that is well known by real estate investors nationwide. It is called the ''Yellow Letter'' and was founded by a husband and wife team. This ''yellow letter'' is talked about and used by real estate investors nationwide.

The nature of this Yellow letter is quite simple. It is a hand written letter that is common and basically general. The letter says ''Hi, my name is--name removed--and I wany to buy your house at 123 Main st...Please call me at (904) 525-5260. Thanks''...

Being the entepreneur that I am, I started a business called''Yellow letters complete'', in which I provide the service of getting the letters written and mailed out for the investors.

Since the, the ''creator' of this Yellow letter has filed an application to trademark the Yellow Letter on October 9, 2006. (Service Mark).

I formed a corporation in July 2006 called Yellow letters Complete and sell my services of writing this letter for people.

Am I doing something wrong by duplicating this ''Yellow Letter'' for my customers? Is there a disclaimer that i need them to sign before agreeing to fdo their letters for them?

Please advise.

THANKS!!

www.YellowLettersComplete.com


Asked on 12/02/06, 10:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: Am I doing something wrong??

IF (that's IF, all caps and underscore), IF "Yellow Letter" is a valid trademark, then your name "Yellow Letters Complete is in my opinion sufficiently similar to Yellow Letters that a consumer would be confused between thinking that your company product was yellow letter company product. You are in the same industry and sell the same essential product, which increases the liklihood of confusion.

My gut reaction is that the term "Yellow Letter" would not be approved as a trademark, but if it is, my reaction is that you will need to change your name to avoid litigation. What's the majic about Yellow? Pick a different color.

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Answered on 12/03/06, 4:12 pm


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