Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Book Title

Trademark law is designed not for the trademark owner but for the poor consumer who seems to get very easily confused. The lawmakers don't want the consumer to suffer the least little bit of confusion as to the source of goods or services.

So, the question to ask is "Is it even remotely possible that someone somewhere could confuse the source of a book (the authors affiliation) with pre-existing entities based on a similarity of name?" Remember as you answer this question that the consumer is very easily confused.

Hope this helps.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

Re: Book Title

Titles cannot be copyrighted. (Here is the Copyright Office link www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html). A title of a series of books (like �� for Dummies�) that is marketed as a brand can be trademarked, so someone else who tries to release a book or movie with the same name may run into trouble.

It is common for movies/books to have different titles in different countries, and sometimes translations from one language to another are not �literal.� It is also common for unrelated movies to have the same name.