Was That ‘Brooklyn’ or ‘Booklyn’?

BROOKLYN (CN) - An artists' collective claims it trademarked the word "Booklyn" for its website, and that competing artists are trying to piggyback on its name recognition to confuse the public and scoop up its charitable donations.

Booklyn Inc., dba as Booklyn Artists Alliance sued St. Nicks Alliance on Sept. 4 in Federal Court.

The Artists Alliance says it was founded as a nonprofit in 1999, and runs the website booklyn.org.

St. Nick's, another nonprofit just 2½ miles from the Alliance, sought to register the trademark "Booklyn Shuttle" in December 2013.

But because the marks are "virtually identical and used for closely related services rendered by geographically neighboring not for profit entities, there is a strong likelihood of confusion amongst consumers as to the source of services provided under the marks," the artists' collective claims.

It seeks an injunction, destruction of infringing articles, and damages for trademark infringement and unjust enrichment.

It is represented by Jeffrey Sonnabend with SonnabendLaw.

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