DesertFox
10-12-2006, 06:00 PM
The producer of the canned pork product Spam has lost a bid to claim the word as a trademark for unsolicited e-mails. EU trademark officials rejected Hormel Foods Corp.'s appeal, dealing the company another setback in its struggle to prevent software companies from using the word "spam" in their products, a practice it argued was diluting its brand name.
The European Office of Trade Marks and Designs, noting that the vast majority of the hits yielded by a Google search for the word made no reference to the food, said that "the most evident meaning of the term SPAM for the consumers ... will certainly be unsolicited, usually commercial e-mail, rather than a designation for canned spicy ham."
The word Spam - short for "Spiced Ham" - was coined by Hormel in 1937 as part of a marketing campaign so successful the word became virtually synonymous with canned meat.
More (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20061011/techbits-spam.htm)
The European Office of Trade Marks and Designs, noting that the vast majority of the hits yielded by a Google search for the word made no reference to the food, said that "the most evident meaning of the term SPAM for the consumers ... will certainly be unsolicited, usually commercial e-mail, rather than a designation for canned spicy ham."
The word Spam - short for "Spiced Ham" - was coined by Hormel in 1937 as part of a marketing campaign so successful the word became virtually synonymous with canned meat.
More (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20061011/techbits-spam.htm)