How different do you need to be?

[bmatthews]

I have a company, "blue line vintage" and I now want to trademark the name.
There is another company called "The Blue Line". They are just a retail store and don't manufacturer, which I do.

Is my name too close to theirs? Or can the word Vintage be enough?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If the two business are in different areas or "classes" then you should be able to trademark the business if it qualifies. For example, The Blue Sky can be the name of a restaurant and it won't conflict with Blue Sky Vintage which is a store selling old records and music memorabilia. Trademark law revolves around whether there would be a "likelihood of confusion" between you and the other store if you both used the same or similar names.