Opening of a (spam) can of worms
Hormel loses latest trademark battle.
Hormel Foods Corp., inventor and manufacturer of the world-famous canned meat product SPAM, has lost a lawsuit
against Seattle-based company Spam Arrest in which it called for the company to drop the word 'Spam' from its name,
arguing that it damages the trademark associated with the luncheon meat.
Hormel is famously protective of the word 'spam', having trademarked the word in upper case letters and
having launched several previous attempts to prevent other companies from using the word as part of their names or trademarks.
This time it was the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that ruled against Hormel, saying that consumers of canned
SPAM were unlikely to confuse it with the Spam Arrest anti-spam software.
Spam Arrest's attorney is reported to have said that the decision opens the door for other anti-spam software companies to incorporate the
word 'spam' into their trademarked product names. Hormel was said to be disappointed with the outcome and reviewing
its options, including an appeal.
03 December 2007
Tags:
hormel, lawsuit, spam, trademark.
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