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Brown vs. Startup Over a Sandwich
An anonymous reader writes "Crunchbutton, founded by Yale grads, is trying to replicate the success of its one-button food delivery service in and around Brown University. The controversy began when the startup delivered a popular Brown sandwich called the 'Spicy With' to students. Brown's lawyers sent Crunchbutton a cease and desist letter, demanding that the company remove any associations with the university or its name. The startup says it has complied with the demands, yet Brown has not backed off, and it expects to be served with a lawsuit. This tale illustrates the perils of encouraging entrepreneurship while protecting the interests of a big educational institution."
Why would they name their university after the color of poop? They should have payed attention to the brown Microsoft Zune fiasco.
people tend to choose the same one or two items whenever they call a particular restaurant for delivery or take-out. And restaurants tend to have a few popular items that they make particularly well. Why not match up supply and demand with a smart button that makes ordering super-simple?
For people who think that ordering food delivery is just too much work.
In the article, it says he complied with the legal threat and that is pretty much the end of the story. They have not been taken to court. All else in the article is just publicity for the company.
That being said, I don't see why they need to focus on campuses at all, except it's a good market for delivery & cell phone usage. There is no need for a lawsuit and they already stopped delivering food associated to Brown.
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I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this...
They do not claim to be the restaurant, they claim to be a courier service. They mention what the restaurant provides, and they create a method to allow one to use school-food-accounts to pay for it. The restaurant and thus the school still gets paid.
Then there are somewhat generic words like "Brown" and "Spicy With". I am curious as to how the school could hold on to "Spicy With" when that's a description, in the same fashion that Apple got denied trademark on "iPad Mini" because it's a description, not a name...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
With is the official preposition of Brown University. It's on the homepage and in all their official literature. Spicy is the fencing team's mascot, a Mexican matador with a bandolier of epees.
I really don't see how this could be any clearer.
Brown University sues Crunchbutton.
Crunchbutton seeks external help.
UPS sues Brown University over the "Brown" trademark.
Brown University drops lawsuit against Crunchbutton, with public apologies.
UPS drops lawsuit against Brown University, with a note saying "We'll be watching. By the way your name is now Blue University".
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asshole. Edward von Gerichten is now on the phone with every brown bag manufactuer in North America threatening trademark infringement. It's cashing in on "their good name."
What I'd like to know is what the hell is on the sandwich?
Not everyone is from Yale and Brown, whoever wrote the summary and article.
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ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
Critical facts missing form the summary: The restaurant and sandwiches are owned by the university. This is not about Brown as a trademark.
Rosenblatt says he complied with these demands. On Dec. 12, he wrote an e-mail back to von Gerichten, saying as much. But the lawyer wrote back the next day, saying he ,b>still saw Brown’s product listed on Crunchbutton’s Web page and that there were indications that the campus delivery service would resume (as well as a “defamatory” statement involving liver damage). Rosenblatt wrote back disputing that there was any indication that delivery of “Spicy With” would continue, and apologizing for what he called a joke (which he said was “made in poor taste”).
Meanwhile, in late February, Crunchbutton started working with a Providence restaurant, off campus, to sell and deliver the equivalent of a “Spicy With” sandwich— “except much fresher and tastier,” says Rosenblatt.
So, rather than simply complying and ending the story there. They chose to temporarily comply and make fun of the product and circumstance. This raised the lawyer's ire, rather than diffusing the situation. Crunchbutton then responded with a lame attempt of an excuse. As if that wasn't enough, they then tried to launch another product that (whether or not is actually infringing) is a clear attempt to circumvent rights that Crunchbutton already accepted by their prior faux claims of compliance.
It is clear by their actions that Crunchbutton is willfully attempting to "ingringe", which will not put them in a favorable light when judgment comes. The only real question is if they can prove that there is CLEARLY no infringement or rights being held.
And what does "SpicyWith" have to do with Brown or Yale.....? Is the term supposed to mean something?
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