Legally, Sanitarium are claiming that Importing Weetabix or Marmite into New Zealand infringes their Trademarks. Now clearly, you should not be able to manufacture a fake product, slap a label on it saying it?s weet-bix or marmite, and pass it off as a Sanitarium Product. That is the whole point of Intellectual property law and the use of Trademarks.
And I Agree with that (but then I?m a greedy capitalist pig who believes in property rights!). If this what was Rob Savage was doing ? I would not support him in that. But that isn?t what he is doing.
The question for me though is: can you claim a product infringes your trademark, if the product was never attempting to pass itself off as yours but is and always has been an entirely different product, and in the case of Weetabix ? has an entirely different name, and has it?s own legitimate Trademark in the country of origin. Its not called Weetabix because its trying to convince Kiwis to buy it instead of Weet-Bix. Its called Weetabix because that?s what the Weetabix company called it. And Marmite is called Marmite because that?s what the Marmite Company always called it.
I personally feel that to claim other wise in order to try and win and force your (religious) beliefs and products on people who would never buy them anyway is ludicrous and makes Sanitarium look like a bunch of whining nincompoops.
But here?s the really kicker ? and something that Sanitarium should hauled over the bloody coals for:
Marmite is a Trademark held by Unilever in the UK, It as also a Trademark held in New Zealand, registered to the Australasian health Conference ? a fancy name which I?m sure is not in any way meant to hide the fact that it?s actually the Seventh Day Adventist Church (as well as eating no meat ? they seem to have a bizarre taste in silly names)
So it is equally illegal for Sanitarium?s marmite product to be imported for sale by Kiwi Importers into the UK. It is equally breaching a trademark, and equally endangering a product that a company has worked hard to promote. (With, may I say a damn site more pizzazz than Sanitarium can manage ? I blame it on the lack of Bacon in their diets!)
In the same vein, Weetabix is a trademark owned in the UK by Weetabix Uk Ltd, and is NOT a trademark owned by The Seventh Day Adventists in New Zealand (or any other silly name). Weet-Bix IS a trademark owned by AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION LIMITED ? Ie the seventh day Adventists. To be clear ? Sanitarium ? in any form do NOT own the Trademark for Weetabix. Never have. So I think they should shut the **** up since they couldn?t be bothered to pay for the Trademark they are insisting that NZ Customs protect for them.
OK ? so why do I call them out on being hypocrites?
Well, if you jump up and down and throw a tantrum and demand that people respect your Intellectual Property, and threaten legal action to people who do not ? you had better damn well respect other people?s intellectual property. So you don?t for example have a webpage that says this:
How do I get hold of NZ Marmite when I?m overseas?
It?s tough, we know. Trying to get any kiwi foods that you love when you live overseas is very difficult, unless you?ve got loaded friends and family who can send you stuff. But we did think this website was pretty cool www.shopnewzealand.co.nz.
Now why would you do that? Surely as a bunch of holier than though stuck up bullies ? what you should be telling your customers is that unfortunately, Unilever owns the Trademark to Marmite in the UK for example, and that it would infringe their trademark if anyone was to import jars for sale into such counties. They should have an arrangement to ship their products to the UK with different names on them ? perhaps ShiteMite and Tastes-Like-Shite-a-Bix, since they are so fond of telling us ad-nauseum that we are allowed to buy real Marmite as long as its labeled as Our-Mate, and we are happy to pay a Gazillion Dollars for a cubic inch of yeast extract.
But no ? they don?t do that do they?
They want Kiwis traveling abroad to keep buying their own product, with their own precious Infringing trademarks on them. They even shipped a load of jars to the Kiwi Olympic team ? while of course Kiwis cant get any themselves because they still haven?t finished rebuilding the factory.They don?t want Kiwi?s to have to go without. They don?t want ex-pat Kiwis to get homesick, and they sure as hell don?t want Kiwis buying a rival product. They frankly don?t give a stuff about infringing other people?s trademarks if it means their customers get to buy their products.
How DARE they do this while demanding ? in the high court ? that British People should not have the same freedoms they insist that Kiwi?s should be entitled to? That British people should do as Sanitarium tell them, eat what they are told to eat, and buy brands they are told to buy, but Kiwis should continue abroad to support an ?Iconic Kiwi Company?? and ?Iconic Kiwi Brand?. How Bloody Dare They.
This is not an uncommon trait in New Zealand I am afraid. Everything Kiwi is Sacred. Everything Not-Kiwi should be denigrated and stomped on immediately, espeiclaly in this particular case if you can also get to stomp on our Queen!
One of the things I truly despise in this life is Religious Hypocrisy and sanctimonious holier-than-thou righteous douchbags with an overinflated sense of their own importance.
?Free The English Marmite Facebook Page.
?
I Sincerely Hope that Pierre Van Heerden (who is actually from South Africa) has not a single South African Foodstuff in his cupboards.
Related posts:
- So ? why did Sanitarium slap an Import Ban on UK Marmite?
- Sanitarium still bullying shop owners (and consumers).
- Sanitarium ? the PR disaster that keeps on giving.
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Source: http://www.avalonsguide.com/anab/2012/10/the-hypocrisy-of-sanitarium/
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