Easterners Come Into Town and Are Accused of Name Rustling

In a battle that might be headlined the dachshund versus the Doberman, a small but respected monthly magazine about California politics is suing the mighty Wall Street Journal over the use of its name.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal launched a new section on California news titled “California Journal.” The special section will be delivered each week to the newspaper’s 230,000 readers in the Golden State.

The move did not sit well with Thomas Hoeber, publisher of California Journal magazine. Hoeber, who co-founded the Sacramento-based publication in 1970, called the Wall Street Journal’s use of the name “outrageous” and said it has created confusion among advertisers and subscribers.

“It’s theft of our name,” Hoeber said. “We are the real California Journal, and we won’t let them steal our name without a fight.”

Last week, the magazine sought a court order blocking the Wall Street Journal from using its moniker until the matter can be litigated fully.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge issued an order placing some limits on the newspaper, but did not specifically bar use of “California Journal” to describe its state report.

Undeterred, the California Journal is pressing its legal fight and has established a fund to help it shoulder mounting court costs.

The magazine’s attorney, Kim Mueller, said the dispute is essentially a trademark and unfair competition case. She said that the California Journal has developed name recognition and a distinct identity over 26 years and that the Wall Street Journal “should at least have requested permission and sought a license to use the name, if not chosen another name from the large pool of names available.”

In order to win its case when the parties return to court, the magazine must prove that the newspaper’s use of the name creates a likelihood of confusion for consumers. Rex Heinke, an L.A.-based lawyer representing the Wall Street Journal, said that is not possible: “Consider the differences between the publications. They’re a magazine, we’re a newspaper. They’re a monthly, we’re a daily. They focus on politics, we focus on business and financial matters.”

“There is no possibility that if you see the California Journal inside the Wall Street Journal, you will believe it came from anywhere but the Wall Street Journal,” he said.

But Hoeber and his lawyers insist that at least some confusion already exists. The magazine has received mail intended for the newspaper as well as phone calls from readers and advertisers wondering why the publication had been sold to Dow Jones & Co., which publishes the Wall Street Journal, Hoeber said.

“We even got RSVPs to an invitation for receptions they were holding to celebrate the launch of their California Journal,” he said. “There is confusion in the marketplace.”

Hoeber said he cannot understand why the Wall Street Journal did not avoid conflict by merely choosing another name for its section.

“When we first heard about this, last spring, we figured that when they got to California they would learn of our magazine and change the name,” Hoeber said. “But they have proceeded forward. It boggles the mind.”

Roger May, a spokesman for Dow Jones, said the newspaper picked the name because it fits a pattern of names assigned to three other regional editions--Texas Journal, Florida Journal and Southeast Journal, which covers Georgia and adjacent states.

May said the newspaper’s publishers regret being cast as “the bad guys,” but believe that they are on solid legal ground and have no intention of renaming the section.