I think you miss the problem here. There is very little confusion between BoltBus and Bolt.co in the sense that they are in completely different industries and the likelihood of confusion is low.

As bolt.co is claiming, there are many people who appear to be confused between instagram's offering and the company's product (they are arguably in the same space and possibly competitors).

Yes, I suppose you're right. Though how big would one of these need to be for the other to care? I surely could not name my blanket company Microsoft and get away with it, right?

The key issue is over whether or not the mark has a widespread reputation/is well-known. If I am able to show my mark has either, then if someone makes use of a similar/identical mark but for completely different services/goods then I can restrain that other party's use if I can show that their use takes unfair advantage of my mark.

For example if Microsoft Combine Harvesters popped up, it would be relatively straightforward to argue that they are making use of the Microsoft mark for the sole purpose of attracting attention to its product, by effectively piggy-backing on the real Microsoft's reputation.

Proving reputation is difficult but generally you will have to show substantial investment in marketing/advertising in the relevant territories.

If I can't show reputation I am limited to actions for straight infringement (identical mark/identical services/goods) or confusion-based actions (similar mark/similar services/goods).

Interesting. So what is Microsoft Combine Harvesters was founded before Microsoft Corporation yes the latter became larger faster? Even though Microsoft Corp is larger they were also later to the game. Can they try to get exclusive rights to Microsoft?

First user issues aren't as relevant in trade marks as in other intellectual property rights. Potentially you could have two companies in discrete markets/territories build up goodwill in an identical name with a dispute only being triggered when some form of encroachment occurs.

A good example was the Budweiser v Budvar saga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_Budvar_Brewery#Tradem...

Generally, you would hope that the parties could come to an agreement and enter what's known as a co-existence agreement where they just agreed to continue but in some cases agree not to further encroach on each other's markets for example.

The above example just ran and ran with each filing suits around the world, showing the difficulties of deciding who should have sole rights to a name when both have built up substantial goodwill over a long period of time.

Very interesting, thanks!

Yes. Think Apple. They weren't the first Apple, and they can't touch other Apple entities that have been around before the existence of Apple (ie. Apple Bank in NY). However, anyone that uses the name Apple, or a logo similar to that of Apple's, after Apple's original use, they can go after.

Side Note: trademark protection is more focused on protecting consumers than companies - unless the company has spent an excessive amount promoting and selling their products, at which point, they are given special protection/rights.

I highly recommend researching the Nissan Motors vs Nissan Computer case, as it covers many subtleties regarding names and trademarks

For more clarity, here's a search on Google Play for Bolt named apps, and their logos. https://play.google.com/store/search?q=bolt&c=apps&hl=en

Possibly. There's a company near me (I see the liveried van trundling around) trading as Apple Property Maintenance.

(I'm amazed The Beatles let them get away with it).

Trademarks are classified by "Goods and Services". A bus company is clearly different from a mobile app. A mobile app (Instagram) is clearly the same as a mobile app (Bolt). For the purposes of trademarking, the similarity of a "mobile voice and messaging" app and a "mobile photo sharing" app is not quite as clear. I'm sure some lawyers would be happy to help clear it up.

So, while I get your intention, that's not how trademarks work. If Bolt doesn't have a trademark, they should stop complaining.

Instagram/Facebook is NOT going to do anything about the name. Just look at the history. Facebook launched an iOS app and called it "Paper." And guess what? There was a very popular app, which was called "Paper" too.

From recent cases I only remember Microsoft to change their mind in regards to their "Metro" OS. However, even in that case Microsoft decided to back off because "Metro" was a big retailer that sold Microsoft's products, so bad blood could cause bottom line to take a hit.

They also were forced to rename Skydrive to Onedrive due to a lawsuit by the British broadcaster Sky.

and here's the cms called http://bolt.cm

I'm curious who got this name earlier.

How many people remember bo.lt from 2011 ? https://www.facebook.com/getbolt

And how many remember bolt.com from the dotcom bubble? https://web.archive.org/web/19981207004638/http://www.bolt.c...

Bolt.co registered 2010-07-21

Bolt.cm registered 2012-09-19

Bolt.cd earliest record 2011-01-04

And the media sharing forum: http://bolt.cd/

And the 2008 animated Disney movie: http://movies.disney.com/bolt

Not to mention the javascript framework: http://boltjs.io/

The difference is that Instagram is trying to build a similar product with the same name, whereas the mentioned bus company is just a bus company that has a few stops in the United States. So most of the people living on this world will never even get chance to confuse the two of them.

I don't really understand in what way this would be considered a similar product; aside from the fact it's a mobile app, they don't seem to overlap.

That is exactly what the problem is.

I think this is different. Instagram's Bolt & Bolt are both Apps. Which will be searched for in the same apps stores.

Bolt Bus will definitely not be confused with the Bolt App.

Probably true. Though BoltBus does have an iTunes and Android app, too.

The word Bolt always has to have the lighting bolt in the "O".

Bolt (the Disney movie): http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/abd7aa3a4851f515796d9d...

Bolt Browser: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolt_(web_browser)