Marketing and all things related

I just wrote about the protest against Martha Stewart's Katonah brand, and now a new trademark fight has emerged.  This time, Jon Bon Jovi's attorney sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of Mijovi energy drink stating that the Mijovi name too closely resembles both Jon Bon Jovi and his band's famous names.

Frankly, I never would have made a connection between Mijovi and Bon Jovi (and I'm originally from New Jersey, so I'm required to like Bon Jovi).  However, Bon Jovi cites other similarities between their band name and Mijovi evidenced on Mijovi's label copy and other advertising. 

For example, Mijovi uses copy on its can label that says, "itsmienergy.itsmijovi.itsmilife,"  which the cease and desist letter from Bon Jovi's attorney, Peter Laird, demanded Marcos Carrington, the owner of Mijovi, stop using immediately.  The letter claimed the Mijovi tagline is too similar to "It's my Jovi" (whatever that means) or "It's My Life" (a popular Bon Jovi song title).  In his defense, Marcus Carrington, who launched Mijovi in 2004, purports that Mijovi has nothing to do with Bon Jovi, but rather, it was named after his girlfriend, Jovita.  He also states that "itsmijovi.itsmilife" is meant to stand for, "It's my jovial life."  To appease Bon Jovi, Marcus Carrington agreed to remove "itsmilife" from Mijovi labels once the existing inventory of 3,000 cans are depleted, but he's holding out to keep his product name.

I think I have to side with Marcus Carrington on this one.  Even if Mijovi was widely popular, I don't think people would confuse it with Bon Jovi or draw any kind of connection between the two.  Even now that the connection has been suggested, I don't think it makes sense.  Hopefully, Mijovi will see an increase in sales from this publicity, and Bon Jovi will move on to more important things.

Strategic Name Development published their take on Bon Jovi vs. Mijovi, which is an interesting read.  What do you think of this trademark battle?