Chocolate giant trying to crush little guy

[JNelson6563]

Hey DU,

Hershey's is going after a small business who makes what they call a "Champagne Kiss". Hershey thinks they alone are entitled to use the word "kiss" and are going after this guy (Jaques Torres). Sign the petition and help stick it to "the man"!

http://www.savejacqueskiss.com/

Some press on the issue:

http://www.savejacqueskiss.com/static/news/

And an FYI, Jacques' a good Dem.

Julie

[davidinalameda]

1. well, the vast majority of people do think of Hershey when they think

of chocolate kisses

this could very easily be a copyright infringement issue

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. NOT copyright. Trademark. Different thing.

And both are different from patents too. People tend to get confused about this.

[davidinalameda]

30. whatever

in the public mind, chocolate kisses are still associated with Hersheys

[walkaway]

2. Jaques Torres is bound to make money off of this so it's a win...

win for him. It's a national marketing boon. He seem to have figured out how to use the exposure to increase business.

That said, being crushed by a chocolate giant is a particular dream of mine!

[leftofcool]

3. Starbucks tried this too and they lost big time

[azmouse]

4. Ever heard of Wilber Buds?

http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/wilbur_buds/

[Doremus]

7. As a matter of fact, yes.

I have an antique candy jar from a store that sold them back in the day.




Now I'm going to buy some of the candy online! Thanks!

[demokatgurrl]

13. LOVE Wilbur buds- they're much better than Hershey's kisses n/t

[The_Commonist]

5. Is the "Chocolate giant" REALLY "trying to crush little guy?"

Or is Hershey just trying to protect its trademark?
Hyperbole much?

Sorry... as much as I dislike Hershey, and as much as I love Jacques Torres chocolate, I gotta go with Hershey on this one.

[Debi]

8. +1

:hi:

[JNelson6563]

10. Ok, then they're trying to own "kiss"

Sorry but "kiss" is free for us all to use.

Julie

[Codeine]

25. But not specifically for a chocolate.

That's pretty clearly a name identified with Hershey's product.

[SteelPenguin]

11. Same

While I'm not a fan of the eternal copyright law, trademark is something different.

If he were selling a double decker hamburger and called it a "Big Mac" I'd side with McDonalds, and if the single layer one was called a "whopper" I'd side with Burger King. I don't care if it were a 10 dollar burger and better than a shitty whopper and he called it a "Champagne Whopper."

He needs to come up with a new name.

[wolfgangmo]

12. Your going with Hershey

Worldwide maker of crap chocolate and a company that knowingly uses growers that use child slave labor. Their new slogan should be "Buy Hersheys. Enslave a kid with every bar."

That aside, the term kiss is too generic. MS couldn't snatch 'windows' and hershey's won't be able to snatch 'kiss.' Besides anyone who has had chocolate and then tried that brown turd tasting thing that Hershey's sells as chocolate would never mistake one for the other.

[Occam Bandage]

18. I would think that if I were to create a new operating system,

and if I were to call it "Champagne Windows," Microsoft would be able to demand I change the name, no matter how much better my product was than theirs.

[Lorien]

34. It would be the same if Disney tried to trademark all cartoon mice with

"mouse" as part of their name. They didn't go after "Mighty mouse" even though he's a black cartoon mouse with a white face. If the Champagne kiss were the same shape or the name "Hershey" were in there somewhere, I could see a problem, but Hershey's trademark is for the name "Hershey's kisses", not the verb itself.

[Greyhound]

9. M$ failed to buy "Windows" and there is ample precedent to prevent a company

from locking up the word "kiss", too.

[Spike89]

17. Actually, Windows is a trademark

Microsoft doesn't "own" the word, but they do have exclusive rights to the name within the operating system market. Trademarks can certainly be general words (ever heard of Apple?). The computer maker doesn't own the word Apple either, but they do own the rights within the computer industry (they did have a famous battle with the Beatles Apple Corps when Apple computers went into the music business with iTunes).

It has nothing to do with quality, or the politics of the Hershey company. They probably have a valid trademark for the word kisses used to describe small chocolates. Hershey can't stop people from using the word "kiss" but naming the product "kiss" is obviously playing off the Hershey trademark.

[Greyhound]

23. They ended up paying the former Lindows (now Linspire) $100M to

change their name after failing to force it in court.

Hershey's probably has rights to something like the phrase "Hershey's chocolate kisses" but has no valid claim to the word kisses by itself.

[Spike89]

26. Not exactly the same

Obviously MS over reached vin the Lindows case, but do you think they'd have really lost if the competitor was using the name Windows? I think chocolate kisses is pretty darn close to chocolate kisses. Hell, Apple computers even went after (with little success) other computer companies using any fruit names.

Trademark protection isn't as weak as lots of people think, the cases that the big companies lose are almost always "iffy" (Lindows is not = Windows, Apple shoes is not to be confused with Apple computers, etc.) However, they almost always win when the small competitor actually is trying to play off the bigger company's trademark and gets too close.

[librechik]

14. pick up an old Betty Crocker cookbook and turn to the "Cookies" or Candy" section

lots o kisses. It's a generic term, Hershey's. Get over yourself.

[JNelson6563]

21. I know, right?

Funny to see some here so pro-Hershey. Horrible company.

[Shell Beau]

28. Not sure that means people are pro-Hershey. It just means

they understand where they are coming from. Two different deals.

[librechik]

29. Hershey tidbit: Before the Mexico move, the factory was right next to the 3 Mile Island stacks

Any toxic residue got into the ecology by cows eating traces on the grass, and then the milk get sold. To Hershey, for the "Milk Chocolate."

So that's why my honey says I glow after he gives me a Kiss(Trademark)

[AngryAmish]

15. Jolly Green Giant never tried to crush anyone

Am I perpetuating giant racism?

[Occam Bandage]

16. I think Hershey has a case here.

They do own a trademark on "Kiss" for a small, formed chocolate. I couldn't sell a hamburger as a "whopper," even if it looked and tasted different from Burger King's version.

[JNelson6563]

19. I dunno

seems to me "Champagne Kiss" is a lot different on many levels than "Hershey's Kiss".

Just sayin'.

Julie

[rucky]

22. Except he's French...

so he should call it Champagne Royale

[Marr]

20. Choklate giant SMASH little guy!!

[dysfunctional press]

24. i've got to side with hershey on this one.

but at least jacque is accomplishing his goal of getting some name recognition and advertising out of the deal.

[Stevenmarc]

27. Jaques Torres is a genius, he gets publicity on Hershey's dime

Besides his chocolate is incredible.

[dustbunnie]

31. "Champagne Bises" is cuter for a French product.

Although Americans would pronounce it Bice-es. :D

Good luck to him. He'll have a difficult fight on his hands I think.

[FamousAmos]

32. Oh the humanity

where will the corporate rule end, obviously not at my candy bar. Geez.

[Mind_your_head]

33. If Jacques has to end up renaming his chocolate product, how about....

Champagne Caress (with Chocolate)
Champagne Smootch
Champagne Canoodle

Champagne Osculate would be an accurate substitution, but just doesn't have that the right "ring to it", know what I mean? :rofl: