Is naming a software product the same as [someone else's] book legally problematic?

Question

I came up with a name for a software product I'm developing. It's composed of two common English words put together (for example, Firefox, Silverlight, etc.). I Googled the name to see if it was being used by any other software product before committing to it. After finding none, I did notice that there is a book published around 60 years ago, by that same name. Would it be legally problematic to name my software product as such, or does it being a software product vs a book make it irrelevant?

PS - I know this isn't really a programming question, but naming is related to software development, isn't it? ;)

PPS - How do companies like Microsoft get away with naming things "Windows" and "Office"? Or are they just legally called "Microsoft Windows" and "Microsoft Office"? Do developer names always precede software product names? Would naming a software product "Jones Office" be illegal?

Answer 1

IANAL.

That should be OK. A book title is not a trademark, so you can use it in any way you like.

"Windows" isn't a trademark either. The trademark is "Windows 95", "Windows 97", "Windows 7", ... (i.e. the word plus a number or a name like "Vista", "ME", ...).

The reason is that you can't trademark simple English words.