Hormel Back on The Spam Offensive

Anonymous Howard writes "After an xapparent setback in litigation, Hormel Foods is again pursuing actions against entities and organizations over the 'spam' trademark. According to the web site of DSPAM, an open-source statistical anti-spam filter, "Anti-spam software manufacturers may be in for a rude awakening. Hormel Foods Corporation and Hormel Foods LLC have recently filed for extensions to oppose or to cancel many new and existing spam-related trademarks and are even filing a few technology trademarks of their own. The DSPAM project, a popular open source and freely available spam filtering application, has already received two such notices of opposition from the trademark trial and appeal board. The complete history can be viewed here. This came about a year after the software's user community scrounged up the fee to file for a trademark...""

Comments

Spam

[nucal]

Anyone out there actually eat spam on a regular basis?

Re:Spam

[AndroidCat]

Spam is great! You can keep a can of it in the back of the cupboard for years. Every time you're stuck for something to cook for lunch or supper, you can look in the cupboard and say "Well, there's always the Spam", and you'll be able think of something else to prepare almost immediately.

It's a lot like Discworld dwarven bread.

Tough case

[bigtallmofo]

I understand why Hormel wants to do this. Normally you don't want your product associated with such a negative thing.

But Spam? Of the people that actually enjoy eating it, would anything dissuade them from doing so? I mean, they're eating gelatinous pig parts. They don't seem like very discerning consumers to me.

Re:Tough case

[Supertroll]

SPAM(tm) is the "Baywatch" of foods. Nobody admits to liking it but Hormell has been selling a metric assload of it for 60 years.

Re:Tough case

[jvollmer]

Hormell has been selling a metric assload of it for 60 years.

Shhh! You're giving away the recipe!

Their official stance

[zerocool^]

from: http://spam.com/ci/ci_in.htm

SPAM and the Internet

You've probably seen, heard or even used the term "spamming" to refer to the act of sending unsolicited commercial email (UCE), or "spam" to refer to the UCE itself. Following is our position on the relationship between UCE and our trademark SPAM.

Use of the term "spam" was adopted as a result of the Monty Python skit in which our SPAM meat product was featured. In this skit, a group of Vikings sang a chorus of "spam, spam, spam . . . " in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the analogy applied because UCE was drowning out normal discourse on the Internet.

We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE, although we do object to the use of the word "spam" as a trademark and to the use of our product image in association with that term. Also, if the term is to be used, it should be used in all lower-case letters to distinguish it from our trademark SPAM, which should be used with all uppercase letters.

This slang term, which generically describes UCE, does not affect the strength of our trademark SPAM. In a Federal District Court case involving the famous trademark STAR WARS owned by Lucasfilm Ltd., the Court ruled that the slang term used to refer to the Strategic Defense Initiative did not weaken the trademark and the Court refused to stop its use as a slang term. Other examples of famous trademarks having a different slang meaning include MICKEY MOUSE, to describe something as unsophisticated and CADILLAC, used to denote something as being high quality. It is only when someone attempts to trademark the word "spam" that we object to such use, in order to protect our rights in our famous trademark SPAM. We coined this term in 1937 and it has become a famous trademark. Thus, we don't appreciate it when someone else tries to make money on the goodwill that we created in our trademark or product image, or takes away from the unique and distinctive nature of our famous trademark SPAM. Let's face it. Today's teens and young adults are more computer savvy than ever, and the next generations will be even more so. Children will be exposed to the slang term "spam" to describe UCE well before being exposed to our famous product SPAM. Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public asks, "Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk e-mail?"

Position Statement on "Spamming"

We oppose the act of "spamming" or sending UCE. We have never engaged in this practice, although we have been victimized by it. If you have been one of those who has received UCE with a return address using our website address of SPAM.com, it wasn't us. It's easy and commonplace for somebody sending UCE to simply adopt a fake header ID, which disguises the true source of the UCE and makes it appear that it is coming from someone else. If you have or do receive UCE with this header ID, please understand that it didn't come from us.

Other "spam" Websites

This is the one and only official SPAM Website, brought to you by the makers of the SPAM Family of products. All of the others have been created by somebody else. We are not associated with those other websites and are not responsible for their content. As a Company, we are opposed to content that is obscene, vulgar or otherwise not "family friendly." We support positive family values and you can count on us for "safe surfing" by your children.

Also, from their Legal and Copyright page:

4. Enforceability. If any of the above terms are unlawful, unenforceable, or void, such term(s) will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining terms.

5. Trademark Information. The following trademarks used or which are planned to be used in this site, whether registered or unregistered, are owned by Hormel Foods: SPAM; HORMEL; SPAMBURGER; SPAMTA

Re:Miscategorized Article?

[tukkayoot]

No, it's labeled correctly, here's an example of what a YRO article should look like.

Re:Eeeeewwwww!

[operagost]

That's how spam email got its name; spam email is the least desirable kind of email; Spam meat is the least desirable kind of meat.

It's pretty well established that "spam" got its name from a Monty Python bit. I hereby revoke your geek card.

It's also not "by products," if you will. It's pork shoulder, which is a perfectly good part of the pig. Or bad, depending on your opinion of pork.

Re:Trademarks

[kfg]

You are correct, however, things get a bit more complicated when a company takes the trouble to invent a unique word to be their mark.

Exxon, Lexus, Infiniti, etc.

Coining a new word makes the mark stronger, because it begins its life innately attached to the company/product; and nothing else, as opposed to, say, "Bob's Garage."

Standard Oil even went to considerable trouble and expense to make sure their Exxon mark didn't have negative conotations anywhere in the world.

If you look down you'll find that Hormel is actually being rather reasonable about the whole thing, given the situation. They're defending their mark, as they must if they don't wish to loose it, but they really just aren't being dickheads about it. They accept that their mark, a word they invented just to be associated with their product, now has a new and second meaning.

But their concerns that in future people might wonder why they named their potted meat product after junk email are perfectly valid.

KFG

Sorry.

[eremitic]

So...do they expect the spammish inquisition?