Tillamook - no more!!

[Joe Schwab]

Article in the Oregonian theis morning about Tillamook Cheese browbeating all the little businesses in Tillamook who are usuing "their (Tillamook) " name. Tillamook Country Meats is the only one with resources to fight them.

So I guess the City and County will be next to go looking for a new name.


Tillamook Cheese, Get off your high horse and live in the real world.

I hope they lose this one , big time.

They said, Cheese and meat go together, so the name is infringing. Well I have one thing to say to that. "Cutting the meat" and "cutting the cheese" are two entirely different things.

This one smells bad.

[img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

[ 02-06-2004, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Capt. Hook ]

[OceanBlue]

Funny, I'm pretty sure you can't trademark the name of a geographic location. However, their website claims: © 2004 Tillamook County Creamery Association. All rights reserved.
The marks, Tillamook, Baby Loaf, Snack Bar and the sailing ship design are trademarks of
Tillamook County Creamery Association and are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Which came first? The county was established in 1853, the city in 1866 (renamed from Lincoln) and the Creamery Association formed in 1909. Hmmm...

[ 02-06-2004, 08:11 AM: Message edited by: OceanBlue ]

[Bait O' Eggs]

I totally dont agree with the cheese factory on this. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

They have been recently beating on the town of Bandon, because they somehow copyrighted the name Bandon when they bought out that cheese factory. They have been trying to make all the businesses with Bandon in their name remove the name Bandon.

Tillamook country smoker use to sell their pepperoni and jerky at the retail counter at the cheese factory. It all got taken out about a year ago when some relationship went south and Werner Gourmet meats moved in which is also a Tillamook based meat producer.

I believe one of the guys who is a primary at the smoker is or was also on the board for the Cheesefactory. That has to be a comfortable spot to be :whazzup:

Let the courts let people name their business what ever they want as long as it isnt vulgar. Naming your business something like "Tillamook Roofing" or "Tillamook Florist" or "Tillamook 5 and dime" only makes sence if you are operating from Tillamook. Some big corporation owning the name Tillamook is just rediculous. I think I am buying somebody elses cheese for a while. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

A little background on what Tillamook has been doing to Bandon LINK and now Tillamook Country Smoker.

[ 02-06-2004, 08:26 AM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

[garyk]

I always thought it odd that the Headlight Herald reports the local sports teams as the 'Mooks - now I understand why. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

[chummer]

I e-mailed them my opinion, needless to say, I've pinched my last loaf of tillamook cheese or any other tillamook product. This is absolutely ridiculous! [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

[finclipped]

This is from KGW, evidently the cheese doesn't stand alone.

TILLAMOOK, Ore. -- The Tillamook name appears everywhere in this region of the northern Oregon coast -- a county, a city, an avenue, a forest, a river, a bay.

The word -- meaning "Land of Many Rivers" -- also adorns Tillamook cheddar -- a cheese whose prominence has been on the rise since it became available nationwide and McDonald's began test-marketing a Tillamook Cheeseburger.
But three years ago, the creamery that makes the cheddar made a move to claim the name for itself, sending requests to several businesses that they remove "Tillamook" from their logos.
On Friday, a federal judge heard both sides of the trademark battle that is dividing the coastal valley where cows outnumber people.
The federal judge ruled that Tillamook's renown creamery waited too long to object to the use of "Tillamook" in the brand of Oregon's largest jerky maker.
The judgment was delivered just two hours after oral arguments began. The ruling: The Tillamook Country Smoker can continue to use to its 28-year-old name.
And this was in spite of a trademark infringement objection by the Tillamook County Creamery Association.
The smoker has been marketing its jerky since 1976 using the three words: Tillamook Country Smoker.
Creamery officials said that they had no problem with the smoker until about 1997. That, they said, is when the smoker began to aggressively enter the grocery superchains, where the cheese has long been sold.
But the judge disagreed.

[HeavyMetal BankFisherman]

Not much of a cheese eater but I definately will never buy any Tillamook cheese ever. Too many other products out there that are just as good or better.

If I change the name of my business to include Tillamook will they sue me too?

[happybrew]

What a bunch of dorks. Not very neighborly. Perhaps everyone else with the name "Tillamook" in their name should band together and counter-sue them to change their name.

happybrew

[freespool]

Kinda sounds like the samething they are trying to pull down at Bandon. Who the heck owns this messed up company anyway? Doesn't sound like native Oregonians to me. Shameful. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]


salmon hugger

[ 02-06-2004, 08:02 PM: Message edited by: freespool ]

[Wood N' Fish]

Seem's like the facts are evading us? Wohw! Wait, OK---- WOHW!

[Gus Orviston]

OB-wan got it. Hard if not impossible to TM a name a geography. And your past behavior, will assist in predicting the outcome of a judgement. That is to say,, if you don't pursue TM and Copyright enforcement where possible then you begin to lose your rights.

gus

[1pump]

Whew. That was close. I could just imagine the rush to get place names trademarked if the judge would've ruled the other way. :shocked:

[foxer]

Well, I will no longer stop there for a snack before I go home when I fish down there... [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img] Oh yeah, no more buying their cheese as well

[GOT2FISH]

I wounder if they have any idea how many poeple find this to be BAD BUISNESS [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img] I wont buy there product but I guess my 5.00 amonth in chesse purchase wont make that much diffrence. Maybe someone should Trade Mark the word Chesse and sue them, [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] just a thought

[SafetyChain]

Would the city or county be able to sue the chesse factory for name infringement? DOH! Just plain [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[Lepper]

Originally posted by SafetyChain:
Would the city or county be able to sue the chesse factory for name infringement? DOH! Just plain [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">The town of Bandon is trying to take on the cheese factory.. but when you have a small town vs.. a rather large company.. Good ol' bandon might not have enough money to take them on..

Right now they are doing the same thing here in bandon. The city is argueing that Tillamook has no right to the bandon name, or the lighthouse pic.. because it is no longer made here..

I have no problem using the name.. heck free advertising.. but let other people use the freaking name..

Bunch of crazied lunnies in that company!!
d

[drhall99]

Send Tillamook Cheese the love they deserve! Here's their contact page - http://www.tillamookcheese.com/contact/contacthome.html

Doug

[DAB]

Recived from Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Bench. It's disappointing to hear that
you're disturbed by news reports that have portrayed us as bullies
browbeating businesses that use Tillamook in their names. Such behavior
would be completely contrary to the century-old values of our early founders
­ integrity, honesty, respect for people and common sense.

We did not sue or threaten anyone with litigation. Only once has a
trademark-related issue led us to litigation. In that case, Tillamook
Country Smoker (TCS), a Tillamook company that makes and distributes smoked
meat products, has sued us over a trademark dispute. Tillamook County
Creamery Association (TCCA) raised concerns about potential infringement in
2000, when TCS sought trademark protection for the name Tillamook Jerky.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office denied the TCS registration, but TCS
continued to use that mark on packaging and on its web site.

A federal court ruled Friday that TCS clearly infringed on Tillamook County
Creamery Association's trademark and ordered TCS to change its web site
domain name and stop using Tillamook Jerky to identify its products.

Also in Friday's ruling, Judge Michael Mosman allowed TCS to continue using
its full name, Tillamook Country Smoker, even though that name infringes on
TCCA's trademark because TCCA failed to object to its use sooner.

In effect, the court told TCCA Friday that we were good neighbors who
cooperated with the Smoker for too long. Because we sold their products in
our Visitors Center and through our catalog, we cannot object to their
infringement. It's ironic that we're being portrayed as bullies when the
court ruling says our past cooperation with TCS blocks our ability to do
anything about their infringement. It's even more ironic because it was TCS
that sued Tillamook over the trademark dispute, not the reverse. (TCS, by
the way, is hardly a small business. Its annual sales exceed $41 million.)

We regret that you consider actions required to protect our trademark to be
inappropriate. Our trademark rights do not exclude others from using
Tillamook as a geographic designation. And many do ­ more than 200 Oregon
companies have Tillamook in their business name. We are concerned only when
there is some likelihood consumers will be confused by another company's
name or label, especially outside the local area. The confusion is evident
regarding our products and those made by TCS, among grocery retailers and
consumers. But in almost all cases, companies using the name Tillamook are
of no concern because they will not create any confusion among customers.

We remain what we've always been ­ a dairy cooperative in a small Oregon
coastal community owned by 145 local dairy farmers, many of whom have been
part of TCCA for generations. We could not survive in a small community,
where we know and deal with our neighbors on a daily basis, if we behaved
like bullies.

Please let us know if you have additional questions or if you would like
more information about the specifics of the issues that have been
inaccurately and unfairly reported in recent news stories.

Sincerely,

Tillamook County Creamery Association
Customer Service

-----Original Message-----
From: Bench_D@MSN.COM [mailto:Bench_D@MSN.COM]
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 4:39 PM
To: info
Subject: Cheese Mail


Route to: Customer Service
Salutation: Mr.
First Name: Donald
Last Name: Bench

.


Comments: I will never buy Tillamook cheese agian . You don't own the name
TILLAMOOK.

[ 02-10-2004, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: DAB ]

[Joe Schwab]

So the Oregonian had it all wrong then. It was all TCS's fault. sounds fishy to me.

[Grip It-N-Rip It]

Something to consider!!!

There is always two sides to the story. I actually work there and didn't know the whole story until just the other day. Both sides were not being put out only the one side was being portrayed. The big company picking on the little company. David and Goliath. The smoker is the 9th largest manufacturer of jerky products in the country so there not so small. I believe the problem came about when there packaging started to look like TCCA's packaging the tillamook was looking alot alike.P eople were calling TCCA about problems with TCS products and getting upset when TCCA couldn't do anything about it. They only sold it not manufactured it. TCCA asked for them to change some things and then TCS SUED TCCA. So therefore who is right and who is wrong? TCCA has protected the name Tillamook and they were only trying to protect their assets. It is to bad you all will not be buying TCCA products anymore. Maybe after everyone gets the facts staight some of you will reconsider.

[blackdog]

Look before you leap folks! There's often more to the story than originally may appear - especially when you rely on the Oregonian for the story.

I have Tillamook Cheese nearly every morning in my scrammbled eggs and will continue to do so. I'll also continue to be suckered into buying some of TCS's beef nuggets occassionally, even though they're really expensive (but oohhh so good).

[freespool]

And the Bandon deal is just one big misunderstanding? TCCA should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for that pond scum they call Bandon's cheese.


salmon hugger

Uh.... Going after Bandon looks like the begining of a pattern here.