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19 Comments

  1. paulnance
    October 4, 2015 @ 8:52 am

    An article in the Buffalo Daily Courier for 18 Feb 1856 announces the formation of the Flour City Bank in Rochester.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:13 am

      Nice find! Thanks Paul

  2. Dan K
    October 4, 2015 @ 9:03 am

    Very nice article, I enjoy both of these products when visiting the Public Market. Only issue with the article is that the Town of Mendon is in Monroe County. Although the mistake could easily be made when looking at old maps as it originally was in Ontario County. Interested to see how the trademark war settles out.

    • Brian DeBadts
      October 4, 2015 @ 2:46 pm

      I was also going to state that the Town of Mendon is in Monroe County but you beat me to it.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:12 am

      Thanks to both of you guys, good eye(s)! I knew they weren’t in Monroe County, but wrote that sentence a bit too fast and mixed up my words. They’re out of Macedon.

  3. Meredith VidProMom (@VidProMom)
    October 4, 2015 @ 9:05 am

    Trying to remember what I learned in a Media Law class, and I believe to successfully register a trademark, the name must have a double meaning (which flour city pasta does) and must not be in common use. I can’t imagine they would successfully get Flour City trademarked. They’re trying to trademark a completely unoriginal, unimaginative brand, which is just silly.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:36 am

      Yeah, the law part of it is interesting, but way over my head!

  4. Roni Solomon
    October 4, 2015 @ 9:30 am

    Nice entry, Chris! FYI, They are located in Macedon, not Mendon as the article states.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:14 am

      Great catch! Thanks Roni. After 36 years of living in the region I still get things mixed up! Fixed.

  5. Matt
    October 4, 2015 @ 10:22 am

    A strong strategy when you’re trying to protect your intellectual property:

    Go and talk to the other business owner and respectfully state your case. Or if talking face to face is fearful then send a personal letter or email. If the other business owner is cooperating then you can work out an understanding. If/When the potential middle finger comes back to you then have a legal representative draft a cease and desist.

    And as they are drafting their legal side you will begin drafting a press release. It will explain your business, your background, your intellectual property and rights, and what you are looking to protect. You will explain how you reached out to the other business(es) and their response. You will send this to every main stream media outlet and blog you can find. You will also begin flooding social media with your side of the story and what you’re looking to accomplish. This will sway the court of public opinion to understand your side before formulating their own opinion and you will most likely maintain your integrity and reputation in the area.

    In a case like this one: Flour City Pasta looks like they’re keeping quiet and trying to let the facts speak for themselves. Businesses often under-estimate the power and effect of the court of public opinion and end up losing more customers and loyalty than they realize.

    There’s two possible directions for this: 1. The Cease And Desist was a scare tactic without teeth and nothing further will happen. 2. Flour City Pasta will pursue the case and the legal team’s angle will be confusion of Flour City Bread’s name impeding on the potential business of Flour City Pasta (i.e. ‘Customer walks into Flour City Bread, asks about their pasta selection thinking Flour City Pasta and Flour City Bread are the same company’). The basis will be the trademark owned by Flour City Pasta: FLOUR CITY PASTA.

    We’ll see what happens I guess.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:33 am

      Thanks Matt. You’re totally right that this could go a few different ways. My hope is that it ends amicably for every one and Rochester can get back on track with making a lot of complementary foods.

  6. Powers
    October 5, 2015 @ 8:32 am

    3 days to cross the state seems like a very short period of time at mule speed. Are you sure about that?

    Also, it should be noted that Apple, Inc., doesn’t have much right to the “apple” trademark; Apple Records is the primary user and they’re the ones that would sue anyone (including Apple, Inc.) moving into non-computer territory.

    • Chris
      October 5, 2015 @ 11:32 am

      Hey Powers!

      The time that it took for a boat to travel from edge to edge in the state isn’t a perfect science. Different size boats and different weights of cargo would impede or improve on travel times. And, obviously there’s weather, traffic and a whole bunch of other factors. It took approximately 46 hours for a boat to leave Rochester and arrive in Utica. So, to say the entire state could be covered in 3 days might be a bit liberal in estimation, a habit I’m often found guilty of, maybe it was 4 or 5. Regardless, the advent improved travel in the state exponentially. Here’s a fun link that discusses travel times: http://www.eriecanalway.org/documents/ECNHC_TickettoRide_Q4_final.pdf

      The whole Apple Inc. vs. Apple Corps thing has been going on longer than I’ve been alive, so wrapping it all up here would be too complicated. But, it’s definitely an interesting part of the conversation!

  7. AMD52
    October 6, 2015 @ 6:46 am

    I think the culprit here is the grantor of the trademark. In my mind, “Flour City Pasta” is a trademark. “Flour City” is not. These are non-competing businesses…in fact, my guess is that the pasta company benefits more from the reputation of the bakery, not vice versa.

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