Overstock, Bed Bath & Beyond...and New Zealand?

Overstock announced today a rebrand of its corporate name to Beyond Inc., a transfer of its common stock listing from NASDAQ to the NYSE, and a change in the name of its stock ticker change from OSTK to BYON.

The Company will continue to operate its online e-commerce operation under the Bed Bath & Beyond brand though it has no current plans to open any retail stores.

The Utah-based e-commerce retailer had acquired Bed Bath's intellectual property, including its digital assets and customer lists, in June for $21.5 million.

But the corporate re-brand and the additional marketing behind Bed Bath & Beyond also stands to benefit a New Zealand company that shares its name:

Bed Bath & Beyond Ltd NZ which operates 57 stores in New Zealand.

Although this New Zealand company was originally named Linen for Less, it re-branded decades ago as Bed Bath & Beyond (which had not been trademarked in NZ) in part to benefit from the marketing of the unaffiliated U.S. company.

Bed Bath New Zealand operates smaller stores than the Big Box suites that had been operated by the U.S. company prior to its bankruptcy - and it primarily sells sheets, towels and pillows as compared to the U.S. chain's former focus on kitchen appliances and housewares.

Bed Bath New Zealand's lower case, green and white color scheme is also a sharp contrast to the bold, blue logo used in the U.S.

But Bed Bath NZ was concerned that the bankruptcy of the U.S. company could spook customers and suppliers.

So now that Overstock/Beyond will continue to invest in the Bed Bath & Beyond name in North America, there may be positive spillover effects for Bed Bath NZ.

Which may be of benefit since Bed Bath NZ lost its own trademark battle against an Australian chain - Bed Bath 'N' Table - that had entered the New Zealand market.

Bed Bath New Zealand had accused Bed Bath 'N' Table of infringing on its trademarks and intellectual property and creating confusion amongst its customers, as the two chains not only are closely linked in their names but also sell similar products and even the same green branding and logo.

This past July the New Zealand High Court threw out Bed Bath NZ's claims of trademark violations against Bed Bath 'N' Table.

It noted that concurrent use of the two marks was unlikely to cause substantial confusion in New Zealand.

In fact the far greater potential for confusion may actually be among online customers of Bed Bath NZ and the new Beyond Inc. which is now exclusively an e-commerce company.

Particularly given the similarity of the their web addresses:

http://bedbathandbeyond.co.nz in New Zealand and

http://bedbathandbeyond.com in the U.S.