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EU Rejects Spam Maker's Trademark Bid

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-the-mighty-have-fallen dept.

kog777 writes "The producer of the canned pork product Spam has lost a bid to claim the word as a trademark for unsolicited e-mails. 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 e-mail, rather than a designation for canned spicy ham.'"

9 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Well.... by diersing · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Are we really using Google to decide such matters? What else could Google decide for us?

    1. Re:Well.... by theguyfromsaturn · · Score: 2, Interesting

      True, but I honestly had never heard of a canned meat named spam until a year and a half ago when I decide to find out where the name of SPAM (unsollicited e-mail) came from. Most of the people I know who never used the net, didn't know what SPAM was period.

      --
      I like my dinosaurs feathery, and my pterosaurs hairy (or is it pycnofibery?)
  2. Re:Spam spam spam! by El+Torico · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, Hormel should thank them. Monty Python and the first person to use the word "spam" to describe bulk e-mail probably did more to make Hormel's canned meat product known to the world than anyone else.

    --
    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
  3. Judges comments seemed odd? by zippthorne · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Based on the judge's comments from the article, the reason Hormel is being denied its claim of trademark dilution is that their trademark is diluted?

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  4. Ugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hormal Foods created this word in 1937. This would be like telling Xerox that their name can be used somewhere else. While Xerox may be commonly used for any copy machine, Xerox still owns the trademark and other companies cannot put Xerox on their product. The same goes for Kleenex, Coca-Cola (in fact coke invented the word cola, and only lost the trademark due to failing to defend it). This is a crappy ruling.

  5. Re:Trademark defense by oliverthered · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Their not trying to protect iPod their trying to to protect pod. Apple shouldn't have picked a common word to trademark in the first place.

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    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  6. Re:Stupid question of the day by Lazarian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I kinda think that even though they lost the suit, it still might have inadvertantly been a way to promote Spam(TM). I cant remember the last time I've ever seen a commercial about it.

    It's odd that one of the company's most famous products never seems to get advertised on tv.

    (Obviously it'd be useless to get 180Solutions to help them promote it, although it'd be funny if they tried.)

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. this calls for... by FormShaper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Pink tender morsel
    stuffed inside a little box
    What the hell are you?

    --
    Socket 7 rocks.