Corporate naming experts said that while there might not be grounds for Altria Healthcare to complain on the confusion issue, it could have a case on the image front.
"An alcohol and tobacco company is very hard to confuse with a health care company. But if I were a health care company, I might be worried my image would be smudged when a company known for not-healthy products used my name," said Clive Chajet, chairman at Chajet Consultancy in New York, a corporate identity consultant.
"Imagine if Philip Morris found there was a company in Birmingham called Altria Funeral Parlors," he added. "Philip Morris would have a problem."
While Philip Morris hired a New York corporate identity consulting company, Landor Associates, to develop Altria, Smedley said he "put the matter to prayer" and Altria was "the name that came to me."
A spokeswoman for Young & Rubicam, the division of the WPP Group that owns Landor, did not return a call left on Wednesday seeking comment.
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