Question

1. Hawk Corporation begins making and selling motorcycles in 2000 under the mark “Hawk.” Ten years later, Hawk.com, Inc., a different company selling medical equipment and supplies, begins to use “hawk” as part of its URL and registers it as a domain name. Can Hawk Corporation stop Hawk.com’s use of “hawk”? If so, what must the motorcycle-maker show?

Answer 1

Hawk corporation can stop the use the name "Hawk" by the medical equipment company by showing that the use of the name hawk can cause confusion with its protected trademark. The name hawk which the medical equipment plans to use is exactly similar to the "Hawk corporation" trademark held by the motorcycle company and consumers can be easily made to believe that both the brands are one and the same. Hence to avoid the confusion among consumers, Hawk corporation can take steps to stop the usage of the name "hawk".