The goal of nearly every business owner in Las Vegas, especially those in the retail market space, is to have his or her business become a household name, easily recognized by anyone who hears it. It becomes problematic when a new company uses a similar name to an already established business, especially when the two are close in proximity.
This is the case for a business owner in Nebraska who has owned and operated a women’s clothing store named Tilly in a shopping center for over two decades. The store offers upscale and designer clothing, bags and jewelry. The owner of Tilly recently filed a lawsuit against another retailer who opened its doors a mile away. The new store is called Tilly’s and also offers women’s apparel along with men’s apparel and surfing and skateboard goods.
The store owner of Tilly had her lawyer send Tilly’s, Inc., which is based in California, a letter asking that they name their store something else before the store opened. In his letter, the lawyer explained that the name Tilly was already in use and had been for more than 20 years in the area. The company apparently ignored the request and opened their store anyway.
The owner of Tilly fears that customers will confuse the two and that her store will suffer. She believes the new Tilly’s store will benefit from her store’s reputation. For these reasons, she believes that the new store is employing deceptive trade practices. She would like to see the court rule in her favor in her business litigation suit and prevent the new retailer from using the name Tilly’s for its Nebraska store.
Source: Omaha.com, “Omaha store, Tilly, sues chain over use of similar name,” Janice Podsada, July 15, 2013
