Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: Company Name and Trademarks

No, they could not. The use of the trademark name by anyone other than the trademark owner or licensee would be an infringement on that trademark.

Re: Company Name and Trademarks

You may be asking for trouble by forming a company under a name that constitutes a part of or an entire valid trademark, but the analysis goes further than a mere comparison of the words used in a corporate name and a third-party mark.

Conflicts between a corporate name and a registered trademark are typically resolved based on the trademark law principles of (a) first use of the mark, (b) geographic scope of use, (c) the goods or services sold by each party, and (d) the filing date of the registered mark. So if your goods and services and geographic areas match with those of the trademark holder, the likelihood of a finding of infringement on your part are much greater.

The real question is whether you are planning to market your goods/services under a name that is "substantially similar" to a valid trademark held by someone else. Merely incorporating a business with such a name (and the NYS Department of State will clear a name without regard for trademark registrations based only on its own database of available names) without using the name for marketing and branding purposes may not result in an infringement, depending on the factors listed above. It's up to the plaintiff to prove that your use of the name results in a likelihood of "substantial confusion" among the buyers for the product/service in question. Then again, even if you use a different name for branding your products, the trademark holder could sue you even without having a good claim, so weigh your risks carefully !