Trademarking Troubles

With the majority of us being business majors/minors and possibly wanting to open our own businesses one day we must be particularly aware of certain trademarks. A clever name or life-long idea could already be taken and there is little to nothing we can do about it. It would be unbelievably difficult if not impossible to create a start-up business while paying pricey court fees.

What brings me to this point is a recent article I read involving two of my idols, David Ortiz and Jay-Z. Ortiz recent opened up a nightclub named "Forty-Forty" which strongly resembles Jay-Z's 40/40 Club. Jay-Z's nightclub name is trademarked and he feels as if Ortiz's is trying to reek some of the benefits by creating a similar name to the already established club. Because of this Jay-Z is suing Ortiz for over $5 million.

Paying attention to trademarks or even trademarking your own brand is extremely important. However, trademarking can sometimes difficult to understand. For example generic brands are not protectable. In this case 40/40 refers to an achievement in baseball ( 40 homeruns, 40 stolen bases). I would consider the number 40 or even the achievement 40/40 to be pretty generic. I guess this is not the case when they become a club name.

Do you feel as if the two names are too close and there is a trademarking issue? These seems to be a lot that is unknown about trademarking, how can rules and regulations of trademarking be better cleared up to the public or start-up business owners?