"trademark" news and stories

When you hear "footlong," does a Subway sandwich immediately come to mind? The company hopes so: They're taking measures to trademark the term for their twelve-inch sandwiches, but being met with some strong resistance.

According to NPR, Subway is taking an aggressive approach, sending cease-and-desist letters to mom-and-pop restaurants, including some that have been using "footlong" in their marketing for decades. For example, Coney Island Drive Inn in Brookfield, FL, has been selling footlong hot dogs for forty years, even using the term in its web address. Subway's legal department recently sent them a strongly worded letter: "You must immediately remove all references to FOOTLONG (tm) in association with sandwiches." (That letter was quickly shared with the media and, almost as speedily, a Subway spokesman recanted it, telling NPR that they have no issue with footlong hot dogs -- only sandwiches.)

From a legal standpoint, the question is this: Can "footlong" be considered a trademarkable term? Food purveyors who have for years used "footlong" as a descriptor are stepping up to say that it's too generic; Subway, however, argues that their relentless use of the term in advertising has given it, essentially, a second meaning.

A chain of Canadian restaurants can continue to use the name Barbie's, despite complaints from toymaker Mattel. Canada's Supreme Court recently decided that the Montreal-based steak restaurants have nothing to do with the doll. Mining the decision for a bit of humor, Justice Ian Binnie read a dictionary definition of Barbie as "a female who is superficially attractive in a conventional way, especially with blue eyes and blond hair, but who lacks personality," Reuters reported. "In that regard, the association of the Barbie doll with food might be taken as a warning of blandness," he added. The same court also ruled that a Canadian line of women's clothing can continue to use the name Cliquot, which is only one c away from the name of the famous champagne house. Bloomberg also reports.

Yep, a chain of pizza parlors in Lithuania and Latvia has filed a request to trademark the smell of baking pizza, claiming that customers associate the scent with their line of pies, according to the AP. If granted the intellectual property rights to the smell, the company, Cilija, would be the only company in the area allowed to claim that its product smells like freshly baked pizza. The national patent bureau that would issue the trademark did not comment.

[Via Slice]

Starbucks has a canned espresso drink called the DoubleShot, which is a sweetened blend of cream and espresso. There is also a coffee shop and roastery in Tulsa, Oklahoma called the DoubleShot Coffee Company. Starbucks is suing the midwestern coffee company for trademark violations over the use of the name "doubleshot."

According to the blog Whiskey Wednesday, which has spoken with the owner of the DoubleShot Coffee Co., Starbucks trademarked the term back in 2001, around the time of the release of their canned beverage. Their lawyers have advised the roastery to desist from using the name, but the owner of the Tulsa-based shop stands firm behind his use of the term, explaining "Doubleshot is a generic industry term for two shots of espresso. They have no exclusive rights to it." If the case goes forward, a judge will end up deciding who, if anyone, has the rights to the term.

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Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is a hard, dry cheese made in Italy. In fact, the name is trademarked and only cheese from a certain region - mostly around the areas of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantua in Italy - can officially be called Parmigiano Reggiano. Similar cheeses made outside this area are called simply parmesan cheese. The cheese has been produced in the same way for the past 800 years. The Consorzio del Formagio Parmigiano Reggiano has published a "multimedia journey" on their website that takes you through the steps of making this cheese. To summarize the process, however, a blend of whole and part skim milk is cooked in huge copper kettles, to which a cultured whey starter is added. This starter contains the precise bacteria needed to start the development of the cheese and is refreshed every day from the prior day's cheese making. Rennet, a thickening enzyme, is added and the cheese mixture is heated gently to expel water from the curds. The partially dry cheese is molded, salted and finally set to age. Parmigiano Reggiano should age for over 24 months to develop optimum flavor and texture, though the minimum aging is 12 months.