I’ve newly registered my musician name in England and had an opposition from a toy company stating potential for confusion because my mark is registered in the same classes, even though they sell toys and I sell music and performance services to adults with no intention to create toys or children goods.
They want me to withdraw my application with an undertaking to never register or oppose them in future. My trademark uses accents as a visual distinction rather than pronunciation but I believe they are assuming the pronunciation is the same, even though the spelling of their trademark is different in conjunction with theirs not having accents ^` above letters. However, without them knowing the pronunciation they may assume it is the same sounding name.
My instinct is to not back down, as the two brands are in completely different markets, covering different activities in the classes. I begrudge needing to spend hundreds if this is just an attempt to intimidate me to back down and eliminate any assumed threat. I’ve enquired with firms but had little luck in getting a response in time to respond to their demands in 2 days.
Any advice please?