Stephen Stanwood and Mitch Jackson- The Rudy Giuliani Four Seasons Total Landscaping Interview and Trademarks for Business Owners

My interview this week is with Stephen Stanwood, an Intellectual Property and Trademark Law attorney. The topic crystalized for me after watching the one and only Rudy Giuliani give his now infamous rant from the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot in Philadelphia. You know, the parking lot between an adult book and sex toy store and a crematorium. Apparently he and others confused the name with another venue we all know as the Four Seasons Hotel.   In addition to giving me a good laugh, and I wasn’t alone-- see the TikTok video (link below), the confusion got me to thinking about whether or not “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” could even legally use the term, “Four Seasons” in its name without violating the intellectual property trademark rights of the “Four Seasons” hotel properties.   Is this OK?   What are the laws?   How do the courts balance consumer confusion and IP violations in these types of cases? What are the damages, if any?   If you own a business, how can you protect your business name so that Rudy doesn’t show up unannounced?   Stephen and I dived deep on these and other topics. I hope you find this conversation helpful.   You can watch live or recorded video version of this show via all the links at https://streaming.lawyer/2020/11/15/four-seasons-total-landscaping/ or jump directly over to Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mitchjackson.live   Between now and show time, please connect with Stephen on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-stanwood/ and watch his hysterical TikTok about the Rudy press conference rant-- at the wong place, here https://www.facebook.com/jon.mitchell.jackson/posts/10158946585627138 If you think others will enjoy this show, please use the buttons to share our live and recorded show on social media. Thanks! Mitch