April 16, 2026

Hello Reader,

Most founders assume trademark conflicts only happen with direct competitors.

A coffee brand competes with other coffee brands.

A fragrance brand competes with other fragrance brands.

Different products should mean no conflict.

That assumption feels logical.

But trademark law does not always follow product categories.

Sometimes products that seem completely unrelated are treated as connected.

And that can lead to refusals that catch founders off guard.

A recent set of decisions from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board shows how this plays out.

In these cases, the issue was not whether the products were identical.

They were not.

The issue was whether consumers might believe the products came from the same company.

That is the core question in trademark law.

Not whether the products are the same.

But whether they feel connected in the marketplace.

To answer that, the Board looks at things like:

• whether companies sell both types of products under the same brand
• whether the products are sold in the same stores
• whether the same customers buy both

In several cases, evidence showed that companies commonly offer different types of products under one brand.

For example, businesses may sell:

• perfumes and personal care products
• different types of food products
• multiple product lines that expand over time

When that happens, consumers get used to seeing one brand across different categories.

So when they encounter a similar name on a different product, they may assume it comes from the same source.

That assumption is enough to create a trademark conflict.

This is where many founders get surprised.

They think:

“My product is different. I should be fine.”

But the legal question is different.

It is:

“Would a customer think these products are connected?”

If the answer is yes, there is risk.

This comes up often during trademark searches.

A name looks clear at first.

No identical competitors.

No obvious conflicts.

Then something unexpected appears.

A similar name in a different category.

At that point, the risk is no longer about competition.

It is about perception.

After helping register over 7,500 trademarks, I have seen this happen many times.

The conflicts that cause the most trouble are not always the obvious ones.

They are the ones just outside the category the founder was focused on.

That is why a proper trademark search looks beyond direct competitors.

It looks at the broader marketplace.

Because brands do not stay in one lane.

They expand.

They license.

They grow into new categories.

And trademark law reflects that reality.

Founder takeaway

Trademark conflicts do not only come from competitors.

They often come from categories you were not thinking about.

If you are thinking about filing a trademark, this is exactly where unexpected problems tend to show up.

Recent trademark registrations this week

Congratulations to these founders whose trademarks were successfully registered by our firm this week:

All the best,

J.J. Lee and the Trademark Lawyer Law Firm Team

P.S. If you are considering filing a trademark and want to understand the safest strategy, you can review the filing options here:

​Trademark Registration Options Here​

If you know another founder who is building a brand, feel free to forward this email to them.

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