MANUKA DOCTOR and MANUKA MEDIC - confusingly similar trade marks?

 MANUKA DOCTOR and MANUKA MEDIC - confusingly similar trade marks?

Recently, in New Zealand, the Court of Appeal handed down a decision, agreeing with both the Commissioner of Trade Marks and the High Court, that the names MANUKA DOCTOR and MANUKA MEDIC were not confusingly similar.

Both trade marks were used on the same or similar goods, and comprised the descriptive element MANUKA. 

Use of the words DOCTOR and MEDIC may have a similar meaning in that they convey a broadly similar professional connotation or idea.

The High Court found that, while the MANUKA DOCTOR trade mark had a reputation by virtue of extensive use, the MANUKA MEDIC trade mark was not reasonably likely to cause confusion among a substantial number of people familiar with the existing mark.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court that the two marks were not similar in look or sound, although conceptual similarities must also be considered. While the words may have conveyed similar impressions, they were not necessarily interchangeable.

In this case, the Court held that the shared idea of the words Doctor and Medic did not outweigh the differences in appearance and sound between the two marks, and accordingly the appeal by Manuka Doctor failed. 

One of the Court of Appeal judges dissented from the majority, feeling the two marks were too similar conceptually and likely to cause confusion.

So, you be the judge. Too close because of the meanings conveyed by the words Doctor and Medic being the same or similar?

Would your thoughts be any different if the name was MANUKA DAUGHTER in terms of the phonetic similarity between DOCTOR and DAUGHTER?  Different meaning, but similar sounding names.