No name change for NJWeedman
In re Forchion 2011 (2011) Cal.App.LEXIS 1144
Marijuana activist Forchion who goes by the moniker “NJWeedman” attempted to officially change his name to “NJWeedman.com.” The Court of Appeal says no go- partially on trademark grounds. The court said it would cause confusion to allow someone to change their personal name to a name they use as a business website, especially since someone else could end up owning the website down the road. The court seems to be saying there’s a potential future trademark infringement problem because if the court allowed the name change no one could stop Forchion from using NJWeedman.com even if he was infringing by doing so.
This argument seems odd to me- as personal names and surnames are used as trademarks all the time. Also how does this differ from Mr. Chad Ochocinco’s name change? (well, obviously it occurred in California and not Ohio for one thing)
