Hormel Foods cannot stop the use of the name of its most famous meat product, Spam, by a company that makes a software called Spam Arrest to block unwanted e-mails.
According to the Business Journal, ater five years of legal debate, the judges dismissed the Hormel Foods' case against software maker Spam Arrest in a decision on November 21.
As an explanation as to why they kept fighting the much larger company, Spam Arrest CEO Brian Cartmell said
According to part of the 63-page ruling,Spam Arrest made a decision that we would not be bullied.
However, this battle might not be over, Julie Henderson Craven, Hormel's vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement...although the fame of petitioner's mark certainly favors petitioner herein, petitioner has not shown how that fame has carried over to computer software designed to eliminate unsolicited commercial electronic mail, or that consumers would associate such software with the source of petitioner's Spam and Spam-derivative products and services...
If I were Hormel Foods, I would keep fighting even if I do not win. This is a brand that they have had for over 70 years and should not be given away so easily. Even if they lost, the trouble that they put these company through will not be worth it just for use the name 'Spam' for their products.We are reviewing all our options at this time, including an appeal.
Although we understand and accept that the term "spam" has taken on new meaning in recent years, it is important to remember that we created the Spam brand more than 70 years ago and have invested significantly to build, support and protect the brand.
On a slightly related note, did you know that the word 'Spam' came to mean the practice of sending massive amounts of E-mail was because of the Monty Pyton skit seen here?
I personally love Spam myself. The meat product, not junk e-mail.
