A judge in Oregon has ruled that naming your shop after yourself is a trademark violation if your name is too similar to that of a big corporate brand.
A woman named Sam Buck opened a coffee shop in Astoria, Oregon in 2000, two years before a Starbucks opened down the road. She named her shop Sambuck's, and the judge in her case said that she willfully infringed on Starbucks's trademark in so doing.
Now she's stuck with hundreds of thousands in legal fees and the added expense of throwing out all her cups, her sign, etc.
She says she doubts people have trouble distinguishing her 10-foot-wide shop from a Starbucks, and that her business logo is not easily confused with that of Starbucks.
(Thanks, Peter!)
