The Ultimate White Meat

Pork Industry in Trademark Spat

From AP Wire page: --------------------------- 03/14/1997 16:37 EST

BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- The Maine lobster industry thinks the nation's pork producers are trying to hog the rights to the words "white meat."

The National Pork Producers Council, whose slogan is "The Other White Meat," has gone to court over the Maine industry's description of lobster as "The Ultimate White Meat."

The pork council asserts its trademark has been diluted and infringed. Maine lobster backers are steaming.

"I have never heard of anyone mistaking a lobster for a pig based on our marketing efforts," Susan Barber, the executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, said Friday.

The pork council said it had used the slogan since at least November 1986 and that it was registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1988.

It accuses the lobster council of "trading on the good will and reputation of NPPC's well-known trademark, 'The Other White Meat."'

The Maine lobster council said it has described lobster as "The Ultimate White Meat" since July 1993.

Barry Pfouts, a pork council spokesman in Des Moines, Iowa, said months of correspondence between the two groups had failed to resolve the dispute. The group's suit was filed Feb. 25 in federal district court in New York.

Dave Cousens, president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, called the court challenge "pretty stupid."

"'Ultimate' and 'the other' don't sound the same to me," he said. "I think they are upset because we came up with a better slogan."

Litigating Against Lobsters Described as "Absurd"

July 24, 1997

In a case that has been described by the public relations head of Maine's annual lobster festival as "just plain stupid," the National Pork Producers Council has sued the Maine Lobster Promotion Council for trademark infringement.

The anti-crustacean sentiment on the part of the pro-pork council dates from 1993, when the lobster group began its "Ultimate White Meat" ad campaign. The National Pork Producers Council had at that time already obtained a trademark for the slogan "The Other White Meat" and found the lobster line too similar. It asked the decapod promoters to cease and desist.

Following two years of failed negotiations, the pork producers sued the lobster council in a New York federal court.

As Barry Pfouts, vice president and director of marketing for the National Pork Producers Council, conceded to the Austin American-Statesman: "To fight this [lawsuit] is ridiculous. It's going to cost us an arm and a leg--well over $100,000." Pfouts maintains the suit is necessary, however, to protect a trademark.

But New York attorney Bruce Keller, whose firm represents the lobster promoters, told the First Amendment Center that "the pork producers' claim that no one else can describe their product as the 'ultimate white meat' or a 'better white meat' or any other variation of the generic term 'white meat' is simply absurd."

The lobster council, by the way, won't have to pay an arm and a leg--or anything for that matter--to defend itself in court because Keller's firm, Debevoise and Plimpton, has agreed to handle the case pro bono. As Keller explained to the Austin American-Statesman: "It's an interesting question of trademark and First Amendment law. And we love lobsters."

Pork group sues over lobster slogan

Saturday, March 15, 1997

The National Pork Producers Council, whose slogan is "The Other White Meat," has gone to federal court to sue the Maine Lobster Promotion Council over its description of lobster as "The Ultimate White Meat."

The pork council asserts its trademark has been diluted and infringed. Maine lobster backers are steaming.

"I have never heard of anyone mistaking a lobster for a pig based on our marketing efforts," Susan Barber, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, said.

"Whenever we use 'The Ultimate White Meat,' we make very clear that we are promoting Maine lobster, which not only is great-tasting, but is good for you, too," Barber said.

The pork council said it had used the slogan since at least November 1986 and that it was registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1988. The organization accuses the lobster council of coming up with its slogan "for the express purpose of trading on the goodwill and reputation of NPPC's well-known trademark, 'The Other White Meat.' "

The Maine lobster council says that it has described lobster as "The Ultimate White Meat" since July 1993.

A pork council spokesman said its trademark was "one of the pork industry's most valuable assets" with "an 87 percent awareness" level nationwide.

Barry Pfouts, vice president and marketing director for the Des Moines, Iowa-based organization, said months of correspondence back and forth with the Maine council failed to produce a resolution.

"I don't think farmers should be fighting farmers," Pfouts said, but added that legal action was the only way to protect the trademark.

The leader of the Maine Hog Growers Association agreed.

"The money spent to advertise 'The Other White Meat' comes straight out of my pocket," said Sally Smith of Bradford. "Every time I sell a live pig or pork product, I send part of the money to the national council."

But Dave Cousens, president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, called the court challenge "pretty stupid."

"'Ultimate' and 'The Other' don't sound the same to me," Cousens said. "I think they are upset because we came up with a better slogan."

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in New York on Feb. 25.

Barber, whose Bangor-based organization represents 7,000 lobster harvesters and more than 400 dealers, processors and other lobster-related jobs, said she has turned the matter over to a New York City law firm.

"Our position is that we feel the term 'white meat' is a generic term, and our adjective is very different from their adjective," Barber said Friday.

Lobster is lower in fat and cholesterol than a skinless breast of chicken or turkey, she said.

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