ONION LAYS IN TO FRITO-LAY; MORE ON STORMTROOPERS; BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Onion lays into Frito-Lay

Another bit of brand-teasing appears here in a recent e-release from IPKat's cherished journal The Onion. Some of the language is a bit naughty, but the premise - Frito-Lay being forced to respond to consumer demand by launching its Flat Earth line of healthy eating products - is rather amusing. The text runs (in part):

"According to Frito-Lay's website, the new snacks contain one-third of the fat, one-half of the calories, and one-1,000th of the irresistible flavor of Frito-Lay's classic line of potato and corn chips. The presence of trans-fats and saturated oils is avoided by employing a cooking process "strikingly similar to the method used to create particle board." Serving suggestions that will be printed on the packaging include "definitely not adding any salt or seasoning, because then you might die"; dipping the chips in "delicious plain yogurt, lettuce paste ..."

More on Stormtroopers

Left: Stormtroopers damages: serious issue or storm in a tea cup?

Following the IPKat's recent post on the Stormtrooper case and Colm MacKernan's comment, it's now the turn of Richard McD. Bridge to add that the US court ruling is "also contrary to English law - applying the view that the subsistence and ownership of copyright must be determined according to the law of the place where the infringment is alleged to occur (which might be affected by a document itself subject to foreign law), citing Redwood v Chappell Music [1982] RPC 109 (among other cases)". Thanks, Richard.


Better late than never

The IPKat's September/October issue of the World Trademark Review having been lost in the post, he's just been reviewing the replacement copy. This issue celebrates the 10th birthday of OHIM (the Office of Harmonisation in the Internal Market - the EU's trade mark adn design registry, known to its friends as OAMI, its Spanish acronym): there's a review of OAMI's activities, an interview with Alex von Muehlandahl, the Office's 'founding father' and now a consultant to a leading German IP law practice, as well as a perspicacious review of the thoughts of senior OHIM/OAMI officials by the talented Véronique Musson. Merpel reminds us that the November/December must be on its way soon, if it's not out already, providing a pleasant alternative to the Christmas shopping catalogues that are already clogging the Kats' in-trays.

TMR contact details here