[CH] Re: Evil corporate types
chilehead@tough-love.com
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:18:18 -0400
Sorry Jimbo,
Those are appelations, grown in a certain area. Tabasco is grown everywhere
but Tabasco.
Dave
TLCC
> RE: But for me, what's always been bothersome is that the tabasco chile
> is owner, as it were, of the name "tabasco",
>
> Well- this isn't uncommon though in food, and there are a myriad of
> other examples, some closer to the 'mark' (!) and others not. Hmmm....
> nearly all of them I can think of come from the wine world. I suppose I
> ought to get my head out of the bottle a bit more :-)
>
> "Champagne" can only be applied to that sparkling wine made in that
> region of France, no matter where I grow the champagne grapes.
>
> Make a wine with the Sangiovese grape and you have an outstanding full
> bodied red wine. Make it in a certain region of Italy and it will be
> called "Chianti".
>
> "Bordeaux" might be a closer example. You can grow those grapes
> anywhere, but if you do, don't try calling it by that name :-)
>
> Although I can't think of them at the moment, I belive there are also
> examples in the cheese world as well as other segments of the food
> industry. The drive to take a regional product out into the world,
> market it, and protect it based on some sense of it's supposed
> uniqueness, is not limited to Tabasco and they are hardly the first.
> I'm not defending them as to the particulars of any given case, only
> pointing out that they are simply playing by the established rules of
> the game. I know firsthand that they've had to withdraw a marketing
> campaign because it was pointed out to them that they were stepping on
> someone else's mark. As this was/is a guy who hasn't sold as much sauce
> in a lifetime as Tabasco has in a day, the Trademark law served him
> well. It works both ways. It's a bit hypocritical to celebrate the law
> working for the little guy, but NOT when it works for the 'big guy'.
> That's why Justice wears a blindfold ;-)
>
> Again- the law REQUIRES us as business owners to protect the mark to the
> fullest extent of our abilities or we lose it. Some just have more
> resources and abilities than others ;-)
>
> -Jim
> http://www.StepUpforCharity.org