Safety Software sues Claris to protect trademark

In ironic twist, Claris claims to not infringe trademark because Safety
Software operates "out of a house," overlooking birth of parent Apple
Computer in a garage

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA., June 28, 1994 -- Safety Software Inc. has filed suit
in federal court to halt the sale, advertising and marketing of software
published by Claris Corporation.
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court in Charlottesville for an
injunction against Claris for software that infringes upon a Safety
Software trademark.

"SAFETY OFFICE SUITE" is a common law trademark held by Safety Software. It
is the name of a comprehensive set of MS/PC-DOS software programs that
provide safety management and compliance with federal and state
regulations governing worker safety, health, training and workers
compensation.

Introduced by Safety Software in December 1993, the product packaging,
marketing and advertising materials for the SAFETY OFFICE SUITE clearly
used the trademark.

Yet in March 1994, more than three months after Safety Software first
advertised and shipped the SAFETY OFFICE SUITE to Fortune 100 customers,
Claris introduced Safety Suite, a set of Macintosh software data
protection utilities.

The lawsuit contends that the name Safely Suite "is confusingly similar to
and infringes upon" the SAFETY OFFICE SUITE trademark.

"We tried to resolve this infringement amicably, in good faith," said Harry
Smith, president and founder of Safety Software.

In an exchange of letters, Claris offered a minimal settlement if Safety
Software signed a consent agreement giving Claris the right to use Safety
Suite, overlooking the infringement of the Safety Software trademark.

In an ironic twist, Claris further responded in part by stating Safety
Suite does not infringe on the SAFETY OFFICE SUITE trademark because
Safety Software "does business direct out of a house."

"That claim might be funny, if it did not belittle the fact that Claris is
a subsidiary of Apple Computer, a company born in the much-fabled garage
of a Silicon Valley house," said Smith.

"The location of the corporate offices is irrelevant," wrote Sheldon H.
Parker of Parker & De Stefano, the law firm for Safety Software,
responding to Claris.

Exchange of letters

Among other claims in the exchange of letters, Claris contended that there
is no "likelihood of confusion" because:

** "Product functions are very different."

However, SAFETY OFFICE SUITE and Safety Suite are both "used in conjunction
with computer programs."

** The distribution channels are different for a company that "does
business direct out of a house."

However, like Claris, Safety Software markets to customers via Egghead,
Computerland, Software Mart, Software Spectrum and other computer
resellers, through bundles with other software publishers, and through
value-added resellers that specialize in s industries as human resources
and insurance.

** "The hardware platforms are different."

However, SAFETY OFFICE SUITE and Safety Suite "are computer programs
regardless of whether they operate on DOS or Macintosh computers."
Further, "the distinction between Macintosh and DOS software is
diminishing."

** Safety Suite "consists of two words" and SAFETY OFFICE SUITE "consists
of three words, which is both visually and aurally different."

However, "the average consumer would assume that the" product names
"identify the same source. The number of words in the trademark is rarely
a distinguishing factor."

"SAFETY OFFICE SUITE" is a common law trademark that is not registered with
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

However, "common law rights are obtained by using your mark and denoting
that you are using the mark as a trademark."

"We have bet a large part of our future on our trademark associating
"safety" with "suite," said Smith. "In the IBM-type computer world,
'suite' is a well-established format which is clearly understood by the
majority of computer users and well-established by Microsoft, Lotus and
Borland."

Safety Software Inc
2030 Spottswood Rd, #200
PO box 5225
Charlottesville, VA 22905-5225
804-296-8789,  fax 804-296-1660

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