Funny Business seeking new name

That would be the blog "Funny Business "written by blogger and cartoonist Brad Shorr.

Here is his post announcing they would be changing their name.

"Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to Elana Centor, who has been blogging since 2004 at her brilliantly named blog--Funny Business.  It's an excellent read--informative and well-researched  commentary on business culture.   

Elena and I felt our two blogs having the same name had become confusing.  For example, we're both honored to be on the Squidoo Z List, but people may not know which Funny Business they're voting for. (If you're so inclined, please log in to Squidoo and vote up both Funny Business blogs and our Word Sell blog--thanks!)

The solution?  This Funny Business blog is going to change its name!   For a number of reasons, we thought this made the most sense.

If you'd like to suggest a new name--fire away!  We'd love to get some fresh ideas!"

We were not the first bloggers to go bump in the night. In  June, AmberStar ,who has a philosophy based podcast called  Zencast ,discovered  that there was a band called Zencast with a podcast. She asked the the podcast discussion group on the Podcast Alley Forum for their thoughts.

Jeffoest offered:

You are missing a key data point (I think) that could help you with the decision and that is the fact that we DON'T know how popular or how prolific that other podcast is going to be as they are also brand new with only one podcast under their belt. It would be a shame to take on your 'second choice' name only to find out that that band just puts out one or two podcasts, for example. On the other hand, if the band podcast is very popular and prolific, confusion about finding your podcast gets heightened. (think google searches for 'zencast').

Thus I can't give you the right decision for you, only factors that I would consider in making the decision.... (wishy washy, eh??!)

In 2005, The Trademark Blog asked the question : Can Similar Blog Names Co-exist? Should Blogs Obtain Trademark Protection?

As to whether two blogs could co-exist with the same name, without speaking to the precise example given above, the analysis would be the same as to whether any other goods or services could co-exist under similar, namely the multi-factorial likelihood of confusion test.  The three most important factors would be similarity of the marks; similarity of the goods/services and similarity of the channels of trade.

That brings me back to Brad Shorr. Check out his blog.Help him come up with a new name.for a blog he says is about"office humor,  corporate cartoons,satire and occasional insight."

Image Credit: Brad Shorr. You can purchase his cartoons on mugs, mousepads, etc.