Spotlight: Mercury Rising in FTD’s Suit Over E-Mail Service

An ancient Roman messenger may be bringing some bad news to Knight-Ridder’s San Jose Mercury News. The Florist’s Transworld Delivery Inc., better known as FTD, has filed a federal lawsuit to stop the newspaper from using the Mercury name in its “Mercury Mail” e-mail service. FTD says the name will confuse florists who have used its trademarked Mercury computerized information service for the past 20 years. There was no immediate comment from Knight-Ridder in Miami.