Accounting Firm’s Counterfeit Claim Fails in Similar Name Suit

An accounting firm lost its counterfeit claim against a rival with a nearly identical name by failing to show the other firm intended to trade on its goodwill, a federal court ruled.

Cohen & Cohen Ltd.'s failed to adequately allege that Cohen & Cohen Inc. copied and used its mark with the intent to trick consumers into buying a knockoff services, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said.

The plaintiff’s interpretation of the definition of counterfeit conflated it with infringement by saying it only required use of another’s trademark without authorization, the court said.

The infringement ...