WTF...
It doesn't sound same at all if you are not English!!!
Guroo in Italian, Indonesian, French, Spanish it spell with a long final "O".. G U R O O....

Guru in all those languages spell with the final "U".. G U R U...

Not even close!

How can these guys so limited.. Gin is not an English company too....

Guru is a real word with a real meaning you can't trademark...
Try to Google both words!!!!

And finally they do not even produce that kite anymore! How can they make a claim based on what.. Different name with different pronunciation and different meaning..
This is totally idiotic..
Bye Jankie

False - in order to bring a case to trial you must have sufficient proof that the two names are phonetically equivalent. (i.e. similar would not qualify).

The USPTO.gov database is the standard TM database in the legal world here in the US. Unless Best filed in Papa New Guinea?

I don't know why people always have an issue with other people protecting their IP. The example was Apple (who nearly went under as a result of someone taking their designs and also are required by their shareholders to protect the value of the company).

Business is business. Its not about being charities or helping other people. Its a simple case of making profit and protecting profit. if you've invested $50,000, $100,000 or a million of your own money into a business, what would you do to protect your investment?

Uh... Reality Check.... we 're talking about Best claiming that the name of new kite from Gin, the "Guru", is too similar to the name of one of their extinct kites, the "Guroo". That's not exactly on par with someone stealing the design on an iPod and manufactuing it.... If the name "Guroo" is "Intellectual Property" then I'm ashamed to be a part of the society that condones such a perspective. There are reasonable limits to what can be claimed IP, and there are reasonable limits to claiming audible similarity... Would you say that someone using the forum name "MissingMan" is infringing on your IP with audible similarity?

Apple has taken on people just for having a similar logo, not the same one.

The difference here is the way its said. If I had a shop called MissionMan's Kiting and someone opened a shop called Mishenman's Kiting, then I probably would take action.

There are two issues:

Devaluing the brand. If Gin's kite is crap, Best could bare the brunt of the criticism or visa versa. If dumb users are searching for user manuals they could find the wrong one and complain or get hurt. Its easier just to avoid the whole thing.

is this realy that difficult to understand?

try opening a restaurant and put a "Big Mac" on the menu...see what happens.

case closed

I must admit that I am more closely aligned to "reasonable" laws rather than laws that attempt to protect people from their own stupidity. People's own stupidity will always find a way to manifiest itself irrespective of the laws put in place. Better just to do a "reasonable" job and let nature take its course.

Given that the Guroo no longer exists... Gin kite probably has the liklihood of improving the rep of the name. And Guru does not really look like Guroo any more than Fred looks like Ford. So... if someone buys a Fred car and think that they bought a Ford, that's their lesson to pay more attention next time.....

Here's a question to ponder- How do you think this affects stuff on the web with regard to keywords, Google Ad Words, and such?

Say you go looking for a review on a Guru or Guroo. Reading the the wrong product review could/ would affect your decision to purchase that product, right?

Could Gin put up a Google Ad using words like "Guru is the Best Kite Around"

www.kiteboardingtampabay.com

as i see it some of the kite brands are not particularly thorough in choosing kite equipment names (among other qualities).
poor imagination?
poor home work on already used names?

oh, and sq225917 it is not Gastra, it is Gaastra. you should like double vocals, shouldn't you?

SQ In what market is the TM registered?
If it is for the USA then it only applies there.

I'm sure there must be some experienced TM lawyers reading this...
Are these guys right in implying that for for each model of product every company must take out an international Trade Mark registration?
Plus an international Trade Mark for your trading name?

How does the small startup business cope with that?
I thing registering a TM should be as simple as registering a domain name.
And as cheap.

On a separate note, I think some guys don't realise that each Trade Mark to be registered must be specific to a class.
So if your making equipment you have to register for that class & if you want to register for apparel you must also register the mark in another class.

For start ups, It quickly becomes more expensive to register all the Trade Marks than it is to produce the first production runs.

For small guys it's probably easier to rely on Copyright as that requires no registration.
And can apply to 3d design of products etc too. But it's a grey area.

All of this stifles competition and creativity.


I ran a successful online magazine for years called NZKiteboarding
it was copied by the wind and kitesurf mag and called NZKiteboarder.co.nz
And most recently a new publisher has created NZKiteboardmag
My one was setup and running since 2005.
I believe it is illegal for these guys to register and produce a product on an almost identical domain name for an identical genre.
But I also think it's great to have guys with passion starting up new ventures. Even if they compete.
I just wish they took the time to think up a unique name and not use a conflicting or confusing one.

So I see both side of it.
Gin should not use any iteration of Guroo, but then it might just be legal in every other market outside of the USA.
Still doesn't make it right.

Is there a register where you can browse all the model names to avoid an honest mistake?
I very much doubt it.