[IP] one last gem: Spam-maker loses bid to trademark 'spam'
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bill Daul <bdaul@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 12, 2006 5:21:24 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: one last gem: Spam-maker loses bid to trademark 'spam'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/security/spammaker-wants-us-to-stop-
calling-pesky-emails-spam/2006/10/12/1160246238013.html
Spam-maker loses bid to trademark 'spam'
October 12, 2006 - 12:33PM
The producer of the canned pork product Spam has lost a bid to claim
the word as a trademark for unsolicited emails.
EU trademark officials rejected Hormel Foods Corp's appeal, dealing
the company another setback in its struggle to prevent software
companies from using the word "spam" in their products, a practice it
argued was diluting its brand name.
The European Office of Trade Marks and Designs, noting that the vast
majority of the hits yielded by a Google search for the word made no
reference to the food, said that "the most evident meaning of the
term SPAM for the consumers ... will certainly be unsolicited,
usually commercial email, rather than a designation for canned spicy
ham."
The word Spam short for "Spiced Ham" was coined by Hormel in 1937 as
part of a marketing campaign so successful the word became virtually
synonymous with canned meat.
...
...
--
Bill Daul
Chief Collaboration Officer
NextNow Collaboratory: a synergistic web of relationships focused on
transforming the present
http://www.human-landscaping.com
"Play with boundaries, not within."
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