Wal-Mart challenged on trademark bid
Wal-Mart challenged on trademark bid
Eden Prairie-based grocer Supervalu is fighting the huge retailer's attempt to add the acronym associated with "Every Day Low Prices" to its suite of trademark terms.
Chris Serres, Star Tribune
Last update: November 08, 2006 – 11:07 AM
Four letters are causing a stir among some of the country's largest grocery chains.
Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc. and the National Grocers Association are fighting efforts by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to trademark "EDLP," an acronym for its "Every Day Low Prices" strategy. Last week they asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject Wal-Mart's application.
They argued that EDLP is a marketing tool used by retailers throughout the country and that no single company has the right to use it to the exclusion of the rest of the industry, according to filings with the federal agency. Supervalu said it has used the wording "Every Day Low Price" in connection with its grocery stores since 1984.
Granting the trademark would unfairly restrict "everyone else's ability to market and advertise their goods and services," the grocers' group said in a statement.
John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said the company wanted to trademark the acronym to prevent others from using it. The company already has trademarked hundreds of slogans and images, including "Always Low Prices. Always." and a design for "Ol' Roy," Wal-Mart's store brand of dog food.
"We plan to pursue the application as it's written," Simley said.
Under federal law, generic terms can't be trademarked, no matter how well known the term might be. For instance, a person cannot trademark the phrase "Minnesota Apples," for apples grown in Minnesota; or a restaurant can't claim exclusive right to the phrase "Fast Food Joint."
It's common, however, for retailers to trademark words or phrases that are less common. For instance, Best Buy has obtained sole rights to the phrase "Geek Squad," and Target has trademarked the phrase "See.Spot.Save."
In federal filings, Supervalu argued that the acronym "EDLP" had become the generic name for a strategy of retail pricing, in which prices are set low and kept low every day. As evidence, the retailer cited numerous trade-journal articles written on EDLP pricing strategies.
"If they secure a trademark registration for 'EDLP,' and then someone comes along and uses 'EDLP' in connection with retail store services, even if it is an acronym for 'every day low prices,' they are at risk of being sued by Wal-Mart," said Scott Johnston, a patent and trademark attorney with Merchant and Gould in Minneapolis.
For its application to be approved, Wal-Mart must prove that the acronym is associated with Wal-Mart and is not commonly used by other companies, added Jim Nikolai, an intellectual property attorney in Minneapolis. "It's possible that, through a lot of promotions and advertising, the consuming public can associate a particular term with a particular company," he said.
This would not be the first time that Wal-Mart has found itself in a trademark fight. In April, the retailer filed a lawsuit accusing an Atlanta man of tarnishing its reputation for marketing T-shirts with a smiley face and the phrase "Wal-ocaust" -- an attempt to compare the retail giant to the horrors of Nazi Germany. Wal-Mart also is locked in a legal dispute with a London-based company, Smiley World, which claims to own rights to the yellow smiley face in more than 80 countries.
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308 • cserres@startribune.com
Copyright 2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Eden Prairie-based grocer Supervalu is fighting the huge retailer's attempt to add the acronym associated with "Every Day Low Prices" to its suite of trademark terms.
Chris Serres, Star Tribune
Last update: November 08, 2006 – 11:07 AM
Four letters are causing a stir among some of the country's largest grocery chains.
Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc. and the National Grocers Association are fighting efforts by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to trademark "EDLP," an acronym for its "Every Day Low Prices" strategy. Last week they asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject Wal-Mart's application.
They argued that EDLP is a marketing tool used by retailers throughout the country and that no single company has the right to use it to the exclusion of the rest of the industry, according to filings with the federal agency. Supervalu said it has used the wording "Every Day Low Price" in connection with its grocery stores since 1984.
Granting the trademark would unfairly restrict "everyone else's ability to market and advertise their goods and services," the grocers' group said in a statement.
John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said the company wanted to trademark the acronym to prevent others from using it. The company already has trademarked hundreds of slogans and images, including "Always Low Prices. Always." and a design for "Ol' Roy," Wal-Mart's store brand of dog food.
"We plan to pursue the application as it's written," Simley said.
Under federal law, generic terms can't be trademarked, no matter how well known the term might be. For instance, a person cannot trademark the phrase "Minnesota Apples," for apples grown in Minnesota; or a restaurant can't claim exclusive right to the phrase "Fast Food Joint."
It's common, however, for retailers to trademark words or phrases that are less common. For instance, Best Buy has obtained sole rights to the phrase "Geek Squad," and Target has trademarked the phrase "See.Spot.Save."
In federal filings, Supervalu argued that the acronym "EDLP" had become the generic name for a strategy of retail pricing, in which prices are set low and kept low every day. As evidence, the retailer cited numerous trade-journal articles written on EDLP pricing strategies.
"If they secure a trademark registration for 'EDLP,' and then someone comes along and uses 'EDLP' in connection with retail store services, even if it is an acronym for 'every day low prices,' they are at risk of being sued by Wal-Mart," said Scott Johnston, a patent and trademark attorney with Merchant and Gould in Minneapolis.
For its application to be approved, Wal-Mart must prove that the acronym is associated with Wal-Mart and is not commonly used by other companies, added Jim Nikolai, an intellectual property attorney in Minneapolis. "It's possible that, through a lot of promotions and advertising, the consuming public can associate a particular term with a particular company," he said.
This would not be the first time that Wal-Mart has found itself in a trademark fight. In April, the retailer filed a lawsuit accusing an Atlanta man of tarnishing its reputation for marketing T-shirts with a smiley face and the phrase "Wal-ocaust" -- an attempt to compare the retail giant to the horrors of Nazi Germany. Wal-Mart also is locked in a legal dispute with a London-based company, Smiley World, which claims to own rights to the yellow smiley face in more than 80 countries.
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308 • cserres@startribune.com
Copyright 2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
posted by Walking Contradiction at 1:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home