Legal Question in Business Law in Maryland

Re: Copyright

It's not the copyright law you need to be concerned about if it's only the name you are using. It's the trademark law. It very well may be that you can use the name, but you need to have a proper trademark search conducted. Misspelling it would not help. Note that you cannot use "Pooh" images without permission.

Re: Copyright

As Mr. Press noted in his response to your question(and as you and I discussed earlier), copyright law most likely is not the issue, the issue is a trademark question -- the driving points will be whether: (1) whether the phrase "Hundred Acre Wood" is registered as a trademark; and (2) if it IS registered, whether your use of Hundred Aker Wud is "confusingly similar" to "Hundred Acre Wood"; (3) is your use for the same product? Shooting from the hip, I would suggest that if it has been registered with the Trademark Office, that your permutation IS confusingly similar. For example, you would not be able to market a cola beverage and call it Pepsy. As Mr. Press suggests, the safest course would be first to determine if the phrase is a registered trademark. If you would like a referral to a trademark search firm I would be happy to provide one. Please contact me directly.

Lawrence R. Holzman, Esquire

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.

6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400

Greenbelt, MD 20770

(301) 220-2200

fax (301) 220-1214

Disclaimer: Please note that the posting of this response is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain information applicable to your situation. This posting is not confidential or privileged and does not create an attorney/client relationship.