Intellectual Property Law

Credit crunch gets sticky for trade mark applicant

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

Captain Beany, the self-appointed Welsh superhero, sometime election candidate, baked bean devotee and chocolate philanthropist (he appears to give the stuff away for free) has expressed outrage at the fact that Selfridges has begun to sell chocolate, made by The Chocolate Society, named ?Credit Crunch?.

Beany has applied to register CREDIT CRUNCH as a trade mark for chocolate, and has been using it on bars which he produces. The confection sold by Selfridges costs £3.99 for 150g of nuggets of honeycomb covered in chocolate.

Said Beany:

?I was actually eating one of my bars when I read about it in the Western Mail. I?m livid..The other thing which annoyed me is that Selfridges are selling their chocolates for £3.99. That?s hardly going to go down well in the credit crunch is it??

A spokesman for the Chocolate Society noted that their product did not consist of bars, and so was ?quite different?. As a particularly chatty chap from the UK IPO?s marketing department noted, that won?t wash, since both products are chocolate. He also rapsodised about all the unusual trade marks that have found their way to Newport, including what seemed to be his particular favourite ? Smokey Beckham.

Captain Beany says that he now plans to demonstrate outside Selfridges and the Chocolate Society, but what he would really like is for an IP lawyer to take on his case on a pro-bono basis. The IPKat wonders, is there any kind soul out there willing to help a superhero in distress?

Full post as published by IPKat on October 08, 2008 (boomark / email).