thank you for reading! I want to name something after part of a rapper name. So that I don't give away the name, I will use "Puff Daddy" as an example and I want my product to be "Puff" as an example which actually stands for something meaningful and the acronym is respected in the digital field.
"Puff Daddy" the example rapper. "Puff" as my example digital social media software and social media site.
Puff Daddy is relatively unknown by me (chicagoland) but has 100s of thousands facebook followers. He has a mobile app so you know when his concerts are named "Puff Mobile". And he has a small TV series which might be discontinued but I'm not sure. He is still active and will be for about another 10 years I suspect.
I am making a digital presence software which will also have a social media site created as a result. I will name it "Puff". No one else is taking this name space, except for "Puff Daddy". "Puff Daddy" also happens to have a trademark on the name "Puff Daddy", but not "Puff". His trademark has mentions of music as well as "multimedia", this is the only debacle I have. Importantly... His followers call him "Puff" even though he is constantly marketed as "Puff Daddy".
My question, will he have good legal ground to sue my company social media site and social media software (does automation stuff)? Let's assume my business will do very well. Second, could I get a trademark on Puff having it state "automation, software, social media, etc." with no mention of music, but I would likely have to mention multimedia (I would change it to this in the future once it gets bigger).
Second, if the name was 9-10/10, would you go with it in this scenario from what it stated? Or try to come up with a new name?
Thank you! I really appreciate it!
The Names are as Examples, but extremely relevant