I repeat: India-based Cocoberry is NOT a Pinkberry knock-off. I'm telling you, the whole something-something-berry name and frozen yogurt with fresh fruit concept is NOT a Pinkberry knock-off. And if the Indian company is a Korea-inspired knock-off, well, that's just karma biting Korea in the ass Atkins.
(HT to Wangkon, who doesn't give hat tips even when he steals my jokes)
Hahahaha!.. I already told you I don't give HTs for individual comments!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the post, people from that part of the world view intellectual property differently. Although people have complains about Korea, and rightly so, the whole Indian subcontinent area is a little less developed than even the Koreans when it comes to IP.
Did you hear that the Indians also copied Oldboy (Zinda), My Sassy Girl (Ugly Aur Pagli) and Bittersweet Life (Awarapan)?
Then again, imitation is the best form of flattery!
Oh, also... Pinkberry copied Red Mango, but the owners of Pinkberry vehemently denies that. They say, "oh I got the concept while backpacking in Italy" or "it tastes like ice cream I had in Hawaii" or something like that. But they copied it from Red Mango.
ReplyDeleteWell that's what happens when you use a name that has a common word in it. You can't try to sue everybody for copying you if you use a name with the word "berry" in it. It's public domain. That's like when Spike Lee tried to sue Spike TV a few years back. It's not as obvious as if somebody were to name a new hamburger joint McDonnie's or Burger Queen....or..uh.. when the producers of Soul Train sued the city of Seoul....
ReplyDeleteLNK,
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't follow your logic. "Pinkberry" is just not a logical name to call a froyo shop. Isn't something like "Fruitgurt" or "Yofruit" or "Yogurtfruitopia" or something or other a lot more logical to call a froyo shop? I understand that "berry" is public domain, but it's more than coincidence that "berry" is incorporated in this Indian company's name.
LNK,
ReplyDeleteLet's just call a spade a spade. Pinkberry copied concept from Red Mango but Cocoberry copied both concept AND trademark from Pinkberry.
touche Edward. Touche...
ReplyDeleteA spade's a spade. Very well put.
Well, my logic was that it's inevitable that similar naming patterns will come up with similar types of products. I think it's fine if a yogurt chain wants to use the formula of adding a (color)+(a fruit) for its name. And it shouldn't be seen as a crime of infringement. That's my point with the burger chain example. Otherwise, Walmart would never have been able to use their name because of K-Mart (or vice-versa or.. whoever came first). I point this out because I do know that Pinkberry was basically spending a lot of money trying to sue every yogurt shop that was just close to them (even if the name didn't sound anything like "Pinkberry")...but there has to be a line on where it's outright copying or just circumstance. In this case, yes, Cocoberry most likely did copy Pinkberry but I don't like the idea that Pinkberry thinks it "owns" the word "..berry" now.
ReplyDelete@ LINK
ReplyDeleteWhile your logic of the combination of 'color' + 'fruit' having bound to bump into each other makes sense but I still don't completely agree with you.
Pinkberry has added 'yogurt equity' to the word berry. So much so that at some subconscious level one tends to relate Berry with frozen yogurt but the same is not true for Redmango.
That's the reason why we have our own indian rip off Pinkberry and not a Bluemango chain of froyo outlets.
Eventhough Bluemango makes horrible name, if a froyo store does come with that name, anybody's initial reaction would be to think of it as a knock off.
The walmart & smart logic doesn't apply here because mart as a word in itself means a market. But berry as a word doesn't necessarily imply froyo.
Hope u can see my point.
Edward wrote:
ReplyDeleteHahahaha!.. I already told you I don't give HTs for individual comments!
Well, it's not so much a HT that I wanted, but if you were going to link something in that comment, I'm scratching my head why it wasn't a link to the original "news item" instead of a link to the Wikipedia entry for Hadrian's Wall.
Then again, imitation is the best form of flattery!
It is, indeed. And considering all the knock-offs that came out of Korea during a long stage of development, it's simply karma. Write it off as flattery and be done with it.
Edward wrote:
ReplyDeleteOh, also... Pinkberry copied Red Mango
Right down to the vaginal reference.
but the owners of Pinkberry vehemently denies that. They say, "oh I got the concept while backpacking in Italy"
... while I was thinking of Red Mango.
or "it tastes like ice cream I had in Hawaii"
... at the Red Mango in Kahala.
LastNameKim wrote:
ReplyDeleteWell that's what happens when you use a name that has a common word in it.
That is a gray area. XXX-berry is right on the border, methinks.
And for the longest time, I did think Spike Lee had something to do with SpikeTV.
Years ago, some family friends from Korea started a yogurt shop and called it THEIR NAME's Cow Palace. When I went up to the Bay Area, I thought, "Cool! They have a Cow Palace up here, too," not realizing the name was blatantly stolen.