AUSTIN, Minnesota (AP) -- Hormel Foods has filed two legal challenges with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking to prevent Spam Arrest, a Seattle software company, from using the Spam name Hormel has used for decades on its canned meat.
The trouble began about six months ago when Spam Arrest, which specializes in blocking junk e-mail or spam, filed papers to trademark its corporate name.
Hormel sent the company a warning, telling it to drop its use of Spam, which is trademark-protected. Spam Arrest refused.
"If you ask most people on the street, they're going to say junk e-mail as opposed to the luncheon meat as their first description of what spam is. I think they're overstepping their bounds," said Brian Cartmell, chief executive of Spam Arrest.
What are Hormel's chances?
Cartmell says his company's use of the word has nothing to do with Hormel's product. Hormel officials disagree, arguing that the company has carefully protected and invested in the brand name.
Hormel also argues that use of the name by other companies could potentially harm its business, and that the public could confuse the meat product with the technology company.
Douglas Wood, who practices intellectual property law in New York, estimates Hormel has only a 50-50 chance of prevailing. He points to a recent case involving Victoria's Secret and a male adult novelty shop called Victor's Secret. Victoria's Secret sued, using the trademark infringement argument. But Wood says ultimately the company lost in court.
"The court in that case was saying, even though they may have a famous mark, Victoria's Secret, and may have a particular association as soon as you hear it, Victor's Secret was not enough -- the confusion or potential damage to their mark -- to constitute infringement," Wood said.
Don't use pictures of Spam
Hormel acknowledges one of its most famous brand names has taken on new meaning, and in the past has made efforts to accomodate the Net community's use of the term, which was derived from a skit on Monty Python's Flying Circus. On its official Spam Web site, the company outlines what it considers acceptable use of the word. Its guidelines include referring to the potted-meat product in capital letters.
It says it doesn't object to the use of spam to describe unsolicited commercial e-mail. But the company does object to the use of pictures of its product used in association with the e-mail term.
Hormel's trademark lawsuit against Spam Arrest will be heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. No date has been set
The trouble began about six months ago when Spam Arrest, which specializes in blocking junk e-mail or spam, filed papers to trademark its corporate name.
Hormel sent the company a warning, telling it to drop its use of Spam, which is trademark-protected. Spam Arrest refused.
"If you ask most people on the street, they're going to say junk e-mail as opposed to the luncheon meat as their first description of what spam is. I think they're overstepping their bounds," said Brian Cartmell, chief executive of Spam Arrest.
What are Hormel's chances?
Cartmell says his company's use of the word has nothing to do with Hormel's product. Hormel officials disagree, arguing that the company has carefully protected and invested in the brand name.
Hormel also argues that use of the name by other companies could potentially harm its business, and that the public could confuse the meat product with the technology company.
Douglas Wood, who practices intellectual property law in New York, estimates Hormel has only a 50-50 chance of prevailing. He points to a recent case involving Victoria's Secret and a male adult novelty shop called Victor's Secret. Victoria's Secret sued, using the trademark infringement argument. But Wood says ultimately the company lost in court.
"The court in that case was saying, even though they may have a famous mark, Victoria's Secret, and may have a particular association as soon as you hear it, Victor's Secret was not enough -- the confusion or potential damage to their mark -- to constitute infringement," Wood said.
Don't use pictures of Spam
Hormel acknowledges one of its most famous brand names has taken on new meaning, and in the past has made efforts to accomodate the Net community's use of the term, which was derived from a skit on Monty Python's Flying Circus. On its official Spam Web site, the company outlines what it considers acceptable use of the word. Its guidelines include referring to the potted-meat product in capital letters.
It says it doesn't object to the use of spam to describe unsolicited commercial e-mail. But the company does object to the use of pictures of its product used in association with the e-mail term.
Hormel's trademark lawsuit against Spam Arrest will be heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. No date has been set
