Hall and Oates sue food company over Haulin' Oats granola
Daryl Hall and John Oates. Associated Press
Like many other musicians, Hall and Oates take their IP seriously.
In addition to having the marks protected on all manner of merchandise and music, the performers already own the trademark for Haulin’ Oats and licensed it last year to another food purveyor.
The singing duo’s Whole Oats Enterprises sued Brooklyn-based Early Bird Foods over its use of their trademark, claiming that the granola infringed its trademarks and service marks. The complaint calls the Early Bird cereal “an obvious play” and a “phonetic play” on the singers’ well-known marks.
The complaint is a slam dunk, says New York trademark lawyer Gregory Gulia of Duane Morris, who is not representing the musicians.
Associated Press
Gulia says with the uptick in entertainers opening restaurants and launching food products—take Gloria Estefan’s Bongos Cuban Café, for example—it’s not only important to protect intellectual property but also likely there will be real confusion over Hall and Oates the singers and Haulin’ Oats the granola.
Early Bird’s owner Nekisia Davis initially publicly responded to the lawsuit by offering a 25-percent-off coupon code: SAYITISNTSO.
Gulia says this play on one of Hall and Oates’ songs is “the worst thing she could have done,” because it makes it clear that “she is trying to create an association” between her brand and the band. Davis declined to be interviewed, but in late March the company posted on Twitter: “Three weeks and counting to our new flavor name launch. (Hint: It’s certainly NOT in any way reminiscent of an ’80s pop band.) New/improved.”
In late April the company tweeted a picture of the new packaging: “We picked a new name for our old flavor that got in trouble for being a bad, bad girl.” That new name? Kiss My Oats.
This article originally appeared in the July 2015 issue of the ABA Journal with this headline: “They Can’t Go for That: Hall and Oates sue food company over Haulin’ Oats granola.”
