We have a broker up in Anacortes, WA that has been around almost 20 years.
Nice bunch of low-key folks who sell primarily sailboats ( hey, everybody has a
cross to bear). The firm has always been known as Voyager Yachts, and Fred West
is the owner.

Last weekend at the Anacortes Floating Boat Show, I noticed that Voyager Yachts
had changed its name to West Yachts. Seemed like an odd move after building up
a decent reputation for a couple of decades, so I asked one of the brokers
about the name change. A tale of ridiculous corporate bullying ensued.....

Seems that Carver Yacht Company (one of the largest mass-pro powerboat
builders) has offered a Carver "Voyager" since about 1977, and continues to
offer a version of the vessel today. Carver got a bug up its butt to threaten
Voyager Yachts with a suit for trademark violation. Odds are probably good that
Voyager Yachts would win in court. They have used the name for almost 20 years,
"voyager" is a common nautical term, and Carver's "Voyager" is a model
designation, not the corporate tradename. Voyager Yachts is (primarily) a
sailboat brokerage, and would never have made any attempt to mislead the
public into a belief that Voyager Yachts was a Carver powerboat dealer. The
nearest Carver dealer is in Seattle, about 65 miles away. Looks like a pretty
strong position, at least to me. I'd side with the broker if I was on a jury.

Only problem, Voyager Yachts would have been required to defend its position in
court. Carver could fly out a planeload of staff attorneys who would otherwise
be sitting around on payroll with nothing to do.

Even if the court had decided in favor of Voyager Yachts, the local broker
would have had to absorb a fortune in legal fees. As it is, the local broker is
absorbing the expense of changing all his signs, phone listings, business
cards, stationary, etc etc etc to a new name.

I asked one of his salespeople, "Did anybody ever come in expecting you to be
representing Carver Voyager boats?"

"Nope. Not even once."

Score one for Goliath, zip for David on this round. I'm willing to bet that if
Fred West ever decides to represent a line of new powerboats, it's extremely
unlikely to be Carver. Is business so slow for Carver up this way that they
even have time to worry about a non consequential similarity in trade names?
You'd sue Brunswick or Genmar for calling a boat line "Voyager", but nobody
other than a ridiculous bully is going to hassle a small businessman in
Anacortes, WA.