A rare public hearing has been set for the long-running battle between Spam Arrest and Hormel Foods Corp.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has deemed the fight so compelling that it will be the one dispute this year to be argued in front of a group of other trademark lawyers on Feb. 23 at the Practicing Law Institute in New York City.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board chooses one case a year to be argued at an annual seminar at the PLI, according to the lawyer representing Spam Arrest, Derek Newman of Newman & Newman in Seattle.
Newman added he isn’t sure why his case was chosen.
“It’s either the most interesting or compelling for the audience, or it’s most instructive as far as cutting edge issues, or something like that. I’m not sure,” said Newman. “It was exciting to be chosen and it will be fun to argue this in front of our peers.”
Newman said a judge from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board called both sides of the dispute and gave them a chance to opt out.
“He said ‘I want you to know that if you opt not to participate, it will not affect your case,’” said Newman.
Hormel, maker of the canned meat product SPAM, is embroiled in more than 80 trademark disputes trying to stop companies in the unsolicited e-mail blocking and filtering market from trademarking the word spam in their names.
So far, only Spam Arrest has been able to get a trademark on its name and all other spam-related patent applications are pending. Hormel has been trying to get Spam Arrest’s trademark canceled since 2002.
As a result, other anti-spam technology firms are watching the Spam Arrest case because if Spam Arrest wins, so do they.
Spam Arrest claims it has spent more than $500,000 in the dispute.
But no matter how the hearing in February turns out, it is unlikely the dispute will end then because the losing party will more than likely appeal, according to Newman.
