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Beantown Home Services sues Beantown Home Improvements for trademark infringement; neither concern is actually located in Beantown

A company in Plymouth called Beantown Home Services yesterday filed a federal trademark-infringement suit against a company in Middleboro called Beantown Home Improvements.

In its lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Beantown, the Plymouth company said it has been using its name since at least 2005, that its customers and prospective customers across the greater Plymouth area typically just call it Beantown - the company provided some Yelp reviews as proof - and that the Middleboro Beantown is just trying to horn in on its action, from its location a short drive from Plymouth.

Plymouth Beantown used other Yelp reviews to show that t customers and prospective customers of the Middleboro Beantown - started in 2014 - also call it just Beantown, as proof of the confusion its causing in the home improvement and repair arena south of the real Beantown.

Over time, Defendant's use of the BEANTOWN mark grew, and Defendant's service area expanded, ultimately encroaching upon Plaintiff's service area and encompassing the entire town of Plymouth, the location of Plaintiff's headquarters since 2005.

Defendant's use of the identical BEANTOWN mark in the same geographic area and in relation to services that are identically classified and highly related or identical to those of Plaintiff is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of Defendant with Plaintiff or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of Defendant's goods, services, or commercial activities.

Indeed, as Defendant is demonstrably aware, Defendant's use of the identical BEANTOWN mark has caused actual consumer confusion, mistake, and deception as to the affiliation, connection, or association of Defendant with Plaintiff and as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of Defendant's goods, services, or commercial activities with respect to those of Plaintiff.

By the use of the confusingly similar - indeed identical - BEANTOWN trademark and by its other purposeful activities, Defendant has engaged in a course of conduct that has confused, deceived, and harmed consumers, that has induced a false association between Plaintiff and Defendant, and that has harmed Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s rights in the BEANTOWN trademark.

Defendant is likely to continue this course of conduct and to cause further confusion, deception, and mistake and further harm to Beantown’s valuable rights if permitted.

Why, if you can imagine, the Middleboro Beantown had the nerve to seek the same sort of federal trademark registration the Plymouth Beantown had already gotten, claiming it had exclusive use of the name for "home improvement" in the area, Plymouth Beantown charges.

Plymouth Beantown said it tried to avoid getting the courts involved by first asking Middleboro Beantown nicely to knock it off and stop calling itself Beantown, but that the newer concern turned around and demanded Plymouth Beantown give up its name, and so here we are.

In its complaint, Plymouth Beantown formally alleges violations of both federal and Massachusetts common-law trademark regulations and violations of a Massachusetts law against unfair competition and deceptive advertising.

It is seeking a court order to the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Middleboro Beantown's trademark, the seizing of any infringing materials that use "Beantown" on them, money equal to all the profit Middleboro Beantown has made using that name, treble damages and attorneys' fees.

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Comments

… Beantown Wannabes and Beantown Expats.

Then they can talk.

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...we've been over this, nobody and I mean nobody wants a "Beantown" anything, its a dead name. A pox on both their houses (which are likely vinyl clad).

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…. Beans and Rice/Edamame Town now.

As someone who eats lots of beans, but never those sugary Boston Baked Beans, other than the candy ones, I say don’t throw out the beans with the dirty water.

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"We're so fucking unoriginal that all we could come up with is Beantown"

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Kebab
Pastrami
Taqueria (in Cambridge)
Pub
Diner (in Stoughton)

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In Beantown has a nice ring

No one in Boston calls it Beantown
Almost no one in Boston knows where the name Beantown comes from.
Almost no one in Boston remembers franks and beans and brown bread on Saturday night.
When a business is named Beantown, it is usually either aimed at tourists, owned by out of towners, or both.

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I am a native born lifelong resident of Boston.
I call it Beantown. It’s back in vogue with the in crowd. Just to spite you know it all suburbanites snobs.

I am also a native born, lifelong Boston resident. Seven decades worth. I can't stand the name "Beantown" and never could. It reeks of "outsider trying to be hip". People who say "Beantown" immediately expose themselves as Boston-illiterate. And, not that I have any love of suburban snobs or blow-ins, but if it's now being used by "insiders" in an "ironic" way to spite them, well, that's just plain pretentious.

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Sorry to have triggered you.
If you’ve lived in Boston for many decades, you know that outsiders sometimes are more hip than provincial Bostonians with inferiority complexes.
Every city has their own version.

I’m fond of tourists and think it’s cute when they say “Beantown” as if respectfully making a effort to speak the local language.

The moniker is not going away anytime soon.

I think that would make an excellent name, and it's not taken.

It says "Beantown" and there's a picture of a bean!

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rename them both:
Plymouth County Bean Jobbers
Plymouth County Bean Boys

Just on principle alone I would never do business with any company that had Beantown in its name.

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Canned brown bread and beans rule.

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I liked mine grilled and cut up and mixed with the beans.

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and heat it up with Sterno. Canned bread, canned beans, canned meat, canned heat. Let's eat!

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Can we discuss that white cubical blob of pork fat in the B&M can, and what sort of machinery was used at the cannery to ensure that each can had exactly one such blob?

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