I always remember this case: SONYâS RESTAURANTS MUST CHANGE NAME.
I know this one time I was really ill and I made âHummusâ in my Hanes but other than that I donât see the issue here.
Federal Express is another bully of this type. Coffee shops such as Federated Espresso and Federal Espresso have been forced to re-name. If the logos were similar in style or color, the complaint might be justifiable. But they werenât. As I recall, Federal Espresso was a vendor in a Federal building!
Best of luck to Hanes Hummus!
I know that one person canât change the course of the stupid train, but I sent an email to Hanes (the garment company). If enough people do this and point out that efforts to protect brand identity like this are counterproductive by opening themselves up to mockery and demonizing, then maybe theyâll wake up and call off the dogs. Thereâs a small chance that if they handle this quickly and appropriately they could even generate goodwill towards their brand. Unfortunately, when it comes to corporate behavior, Iâm a pessimist.
âHanesâ is short for Yohannes. Hanes Hummusâs founder is named Yohannes Petros.
âHanesâ is also the last name of the founder of the Hanes Hosiery Mill, John Wesley Hanes I. Along with his brotherâs knitting company it became what is known as Hanes today.
Too bad Iâm not Canadian, because in my house, hummus would have just been forced to rename itself to âShortsâ, as in âEat My Shortsâ.
And maybe it will, anyway.
. . . and branding for chickpeas is too similar to branding for textiles?
Lawyers gone wild . . .
A company has due diligence to protect their IP, or risk losing it. However, trademarks apply only to the categories or classes that the company applies to. Meaning another clothing company canât call itself Hanes. Thatâs why you can have a Monster Energy Drink, Monster Cable and Monster.com for job hunting and a ton of other businesses with Monster inthe name. (Monster Cable was notoriously suing a mini-golf course that had Monster in the name).
Looking at the list of trademarks with Hanes in the name, Hanes Hummus is the only one I see that isnât owned by BHI, the company that owns Haneâs underwear.
I think it is high time consumers got the hummus-derived small clothes that they are clamoring for.
I for one have no problem pouring hummus down my pants, been doing it for years, but I guess itâs not for everyone.
In the inappropriately named âHanes for Goodâ section on its website the company states: âHanesBrands conducts business around the world in a highly ethical manner. We are protective of our strong reputation for corporate citizenship and social responsibility, and proud of our significant achievements in the areas of environmental stewardship, workplace quality and community building.â
How surprising. Another load of CSR bullshit from a corporation.
One more place - like patent trolling and copyright/DMCA take-down abuse - where abuse and bullying and âbiggest war chest winsâ justice could be almost eliminated by changing statute or judicial practice to award damages (even punitive where warranted) and court costs, including attorney fees, to a defendant if the petitioner or threatened petitioner looses the case, has it dismissed, fails to file or fails to pursue once filed. In fact, requiring a bond that could be used to cover these damages - especially from wealthy and corporate petitioners - when the complaint is filed would also cut this nonsense and abusive torsion of our legal systems right out.
âŚand of course a good old-fashioned boycott and Streisand effect round of negative publicity could also do wonders. After all, just like âFirst Classâ and âWall Streetâ and âBanksterismâ and âTaxesâ and âCorporate Welfareâ and âTax Loopholesâ and âCongressâ/âParliamentâ ⌠These Ponzi-Schemes benefiting the 1% only continue to work as long as the 99% pay our share and buy their goods. Maybe we just stop our support. ???
Oh man! I did that once! I was digging pita crumbs out of my bunghole for weeks.
Thatâs some of the worst music I have ever heard, lol!
Apparently the guy who started Hanes was a less than excellent person and, along with Dr. Clarence Gamble of Proctor&Gamble(specifically, heir to the fortune) and some other businessmen drove the North Carolina eugenics movement in the 40âs http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/redress-weighed-for-forced-sterilizations-in-north-carolina.html?_r=0
Hanes may have a point: http://liartownusa.tumblr.com/post/69945945766/vermont-pleasures-tm-body-hummus-chick-pea-massage
Yes, and hereâs one that is particularly hearbreaking from Virginia - the story of Carrie Buck, a Saponi woman and rape victim - sterilized because they said she was a âMongoloidâ. Um. Hello! Native Americans - we came here from Mongoliia! And the child of that rape? An honor student.
http://www.saponitown.com/eugenics-carrie-buck/eugenics-carrie-buck.htm
