In an interesting trademark development, the International House of Pancakes -- widely known simply as "IHOP" -- has filed suit against the Kansas City-based International House of Prayers due to the use of the IHOP acronym. Kansas City Star: IHOP Sues IHOP As far as the article goes, I agree with two points that were made. First, I think this quote sums up the situation quite well: My
prediction: the "real" IHOP will prevail. Essentially, the first point
above outweighs the second one. Granted, prayers aren't that similar to
pancakes, or anything else IHOP does (which is part of the TM
infringement analysis), but the "strength" of IHOP's trademark should
ultimately be the key factor. Due to the IHOP mark being widely-known,
and the fact that the prayer house likely chose their acronym based on
the same, IHOP should prevail in some form or another. That and the fact
that IHOP started using their mark back in 1972. The prayer house
should be fine if they just come up with a different acronym...maybe
something like HOIP or "The International HOPry"...or maybe "Prayers 'R'
Us"...wait, maybe not. |