Gallo sues Barefoot kombucha

Saw this in the local weekly today. Gallo sues tiny kombucha outfit and sounds like seeks all previous profits.

I’m rooting for the little guy here; I feel that they have truth on their side. While we can debate whether or not the Gallo product tastes like wine, there is no disputing the fact that kombucha tastes like feet.

Wonderful, stinky feet. Man I love Kombucha.

With an essence of belly button.

I’m all for the little guy, but that company knew exactly what they were doing when creating their brand. If they were trying to spread the message of leaving a smaller environmental FOOTprint, then maybe they should have branded themselves…“Footprint”?

'Zackly. Very shortsighted thinking there.

I’d be interested to know how much effort Gallo has made to engege here. I might feel differently if this was another wine brand but they are pretty different products.

Asking for all previous profits seems way too extreme to me and it looks like Gallo is pressing forward with the sort of corporate bullying that I really hate. It is the sort of thing that leads me to boycott all products from the bullying company, not that I get any of their products where I am.

There are a few companies that I actively boycott for this reason. One prominent local wine company I now boycott sent a cease and desist letter with a small local winery that I was working for over labels that weren’t really very similar at all. They obviously didn’t do their homework on who they were sending it to either, given that the owners name is attached to one of the more recognizable corporate law firms in Australia. The owner also took advice from his mate at the winery down the road who happened to be one of the most experienced experts in copyright law in the country, and a letter was sent back informing the large winery that they would welcome a court case. Needless to say we never heard anything more about it. The end result is that the large winery doesn’t get my business.

Frankly, I hope Gallo wins… and puts the “mom & pop” out of business.

It is NOT corporate bullying when another company steals your logo and you defend it. It took Gallo a lot of advertising dollars to make that footprint into a profitable and instantly recognizable trademark. Take a look at the comparison - it’s obvious that the two are very similar.

I believe it was David Bynum who made the footprint a recognizable trademark, long before Gallo purchased the mark. Gallo is in the right legally, but clearly a corporate bully in the worst way. Too bad I can’t boycott them if I already refuse to buy their products.

P Hickner

I have not consumed a Gallo product since the Hearty Burgundy days and I believe it was really Syrah.
We have a local cured meat company Olympic Provisions that took it’s name from the Olympic Building where it started and was forced changed their name to Olympia Provisions. So far the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park have been allowed to keep their names. I will watch the WNT play soccer under protest.

I also don’t buy Gallo products, but agree with those who have sided with Gallo on this issue.

Perhaps we can all file a class-action lawsuit against Gallo based on the false impression that their wine gives that it is crushed by using bare feet.

If you do not defend your trademarks, they then become open game for even bigger fish than the tea folks. They are not corporate bullies, they are following the law of the land.

Gallo has a history of going after companies it says are infringing on its trademarks, even if the products bear no relation to wine. For example, it’s challenged footwear, juice and clothing companies that used the barefoot moniker, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

I wonder if these guys are worried:

What is really nonsensical is that trademarks can be issued to protect names and logos that are based on commonly used words and phrases. It’s really too bad that the trademark office doesn’t just tell companies to pound sand when they try to “own” something that is already in common use everywhere. If Gallo wants to use “Barefoot”, more power to them, but IMO they shouldn’t be able to prevent other people from doing the same.

But then the trademark office allowed Delaware North Corp. to trademark historical names like “Ahwahnee”, “Wawona”, “Badger Pass” and “Yosemite National Park”, so nothing should be a surprise.

Exactly. I don’t see this as bullying at all. These people knew what they were doing, and it was wrong. The article is extremely opinionated to the extent that it shouldn’t really be called “news”. Sometimes the big player is not in the wrong.

That may be, but there’s no doubt that the vast majority of awareness of that name and image as a representation of a brand has come from Gallo, not anyone else.

I recognize that trademarks undefended are trademarks lost. There are ways of handling trademark disputes other than storming in with a legal SWAT team capable of obliterating an underfunded opponent. Take this example I get from a tasting I attended recently at a local wine store. A winemaker, Leah Jorgenson, was pouring a Cab Franc named Loiregon. I asked her immediately if she had run into problems with the name. She said that her winery had been approached by the French government with a demand she not use a name that could be construed as implying the wine was from the Loire AOC. She agreed to drop the name in future vintages, yet was allowed to sell her remaining stock. No one incurred any major legal fees, and any claim of damages was waived.
Shock and awe seems to be corporate practice; intimidation that says, “right or wrong, don’t even think of crossing us”.

P Hickner

I agree completely, and I believe that used to be the case, resulting in lots of made up names like Kleenex. Ironically, that has now become a generic in use.

That said, the nearly identical yellow footprint is going to far, and really could cause confusion.

P Hickner

You lost me at French government.

P Hickner[/quote]
You lost me at French government. [/quote]

I’m not sure why. There is an entity, with arguably more power than even Gallo, acting in a much more diplomatic fashion.

P Hickner