Trident sues to safeguard its name

Trident Seafoods Corp. is suing Triton Seafoods LLC.

Why?

Because that name, Triton, looks and sounds too much like Trident, the lawsuit argues.

Trident is the largest seafood company in the United States, and has used the term Trident as a trade name and trademark since 1973, says the suit filed in federal court in Seattle.

Triton, meantime, was "organized by Alexander Domnenkov in 2013," the suit says.

Triton's website at tritonseafoods.com "mimics" that of Trident at tridentseafoods.com, the suit contends.

Trident further argues:

"The similarity, both visually and aurally, between the terms TRIDENT and TRITON has caused actual confusion and, given the nature and intensity of the industry, that similarity is highly likely to give rise to further and even greater confusion among fishers, suppliers, vendors, and customers. Some of the people working in the industry in which Trident and Triton compete speak English as a second language and may have even more difficulty distinguishing between the highly similar words TRIDENT and TRITON than native speakers of English do."

Trident is asking the court for an injunction blocking the use of Triton or any other trade name similar to Trident.