Tillamook Country Smoker Can Keep Its Name

It's been awhile since I've posted on the aggressive tactics the Tillamook Cheese folks have been using to enforce their trademark on the name Tillamook (and Bandon). Looks like there's finally been some progress on this front...a rather logical legal ruling.

The Tillamook tussle may finally be over.

After several years of legal wrangling, a federal judge has ruled that Tillamook Country Smoker may register its name as a trademark after nearly 30 years in business.

The decision arose from a lawsuit that the beef jerky maker filed in 2002 against the Tillamook County Creamery Association, makers of world-famous Tillamook Cheese. The 150-member dairy cooperative takes in more than $240 million in annual sales. The cheese giant had tried to compel the smoker - also a major food force - to stop using the name "Tillamook."

Problem was, Tillamook just happens to be the name of the town and county where both businesses reside. The creamery also sent warning letters to other businesses - some in Tillamook, but also some in Bandon, where it bought the local cheese-making plant and wanted companies to take "Bandon" out of their names.

The creamery's tactics prompted an outcry from residents in both cities. But creamery officials said they were merely trying to avoid confusion and protect the valuable brand.

I can understand the Creamery Association's point, but their legal strategy got way out of hand. To harass businesses named after a geographic location or people's last names is a bit much...though can you imagine what would happen if a Ms. McDonald opened a drug store and named it McDonalds's Pharmacy? Many small businesses never trademark their names, at least until they get big. It's not fair to pretend they started copying someone else's name when they've been using name for 30 years.

The smoker - which employs 250 Tillamook County workers and grosses about $41 million in annual sales - filed a lawsuit as a pre-emptive strike, asking a judge to grant the company permission to use the name.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that the smoker can keep its name - though it must relinquish all uses of the term "Tillamook Jerky." And in a separate ruling late last week, the judge said the smoker not only can use the name Tillamook Country Smoker, but it also has the right to trademark the phrase - which expressly prevents anyone else from using it.

"I'm ecstatic," smoker owner Dick Crossley said Tuesday. "We think the judge's decision allows everyone involved to get back to business."

In fact, Crossley said he hopes the two companies can revive their former partnership, recalling the two decades when the creamery and the smoker sold their products together. Mosman noted in his April ruling that the creamery bought more than $635,000 in meat products from the smoker in 2001, much of it sold from the creamery's store on Highway 101.

This article says the lawsuit was a pre-emptive strike, but the Tillamook Country Smoker had already received threatening letters from the Tillamook County Creamery Association's lawyers regarding use of the name Tillamook. I guess it was pre-emptive because the Smoker folks sued first, but they didn't initiate the hostility.

Creamery Chief Executive Officer Jim McMullen said the company's attorney hadn't reviewed the latest ruling yet.

"We can say that the trademark issue and legal process has benefited both sides in gaining a deeper understanding of trademark protection and enforcement that did not exist before," he said in an e-mail statement.

As for the two companies working together again, creamery spokeswoman Christie Lincoln said in a statement that the creamery "has in the past and will continue to listen to solutions that are in the best interest of the brand."

Meanwhile, the creamery has partnered with McDonald's, which is now selling "Tillamook Cheeseburgers."

In every interview I see with Jim McMullen, he tries to come off as personally reasonable, but hides behind his lawyers and their views. In some fairness, the Tillamook Cheese folks were faced with the situation of having to grow quickly or being economically damaged by lack of scale...you either get shelf space in Wal-Mart, Costco, etc., or are relegated to the minor leagues. They chose to try to grow quickly, and hired some high powered lawyers to help them.

Looks logic has prevailed with the Tillamook Country Smoker...let's hope the same is true for other established businesses with Tillamook or Bandon in their names, whether they're in Oregon or not.

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