US food company Hormel Foods has filed a legal challenge with the US Patent and Trademark Office in a bid to prevent Seattle software firm Spam Arrest from using the Spam name that Hormel has used for decades on its canned meat.
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Around six months ago Spam Arrest filed papers to trademark its corporate name. Hormel warned the company to drop its use of Spam, which Hormel has trademark protected. Spam Arrest refused to drop the name, reported the Associated Press.
Spam Arrest’s chief executive, Brian Cartmell, argues that most people, when asked what spam is, would describe junk e-mail, rather than the luncheon meat. Cartmell says the company’s use of the word spam has nothing to do with Hormel’s product.
Hormell, however, argues that it has carefully protected and invested in the brand name, and that the use of the name by other companies could harm its business.
So far no date has been set for the case, which will be heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeals Court in Washington, D.C.
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