Wall Street protesters: We're in for the long haul

[garbon]

It's not any more ridiculous than allowing a limited number of shareholders to dictate to the world which computers can be labelled Macs or which carbonated beverages can be called Coca Cola.

The EU is passing on to the consumer is that the product he's buying is made in a certain location and maintains a certain quality standard.

That's a corporation and their are set practices for establishing a trademark. If said disparate group of farmers wanted to form a brand, there was recourse for that.  Why create a new process to give "rights" to a largely unconnected group?

[Admiral Yi]

That's a corporation and their are set practices for establishing a trademark. If said disparate group of farmers wanted to form a brand, there was recourse for that.  Why create a new process to give "rights" to a largely unconnected group?

Is this really you're only objection?  If the wine producers of Champagne were to simply trademark Champagne you'd be perfectly happy?

[garbon]

That's a corporation and their are set practices for establishing a trademark. If said disparate group of farmers wanted to form a brand, there was recourse for that.  Why create a new process to give "rights" to a largely unconnected group?

Is this really you're only objection?  If the wine producers of Champagne were to simply trademark Champagne you'd be perfectly happy?

Yeah - actually I think that would be okay. Then you'd be in the same situation where kleenex, coke and xerox are used as common nouns even though there is a branded product with that name.  I don't think that many, if any, of these various products in Europe could manage that though. There are too many disparate interests for them to come together as one corporation that could get exclusivity rights and so it seems like that's why they had to go the route they did where they pushed for the EU define their product as the only true version of its class and everything else had to grab imitation names like italian hard cheese.

[ulmont]

There's a procedure in the US called a certification mark where no one gets exclusivity...

[Ideologue]

There's a procedure in the US called a certification mark where no one gets exclusivity...

But certification marks don't discriminate by national or regional origin, do they?

[chipwich]

We've got those too.  The Lincolnshire standards are higher - I think they've got to be 98% pork - the entire point is that their product is distinctive, unique and a part of the culture of the area it is different and should be protected.  So there should be rules of what qualifies a Lincolnshire sausage or you end up ruining their brand and all Lincolnshire sausages degenerating to mediocrity.

Has it occurred to you that those recipes could be reproduced elsewhere?

[ulmont]

There's a procedure in the US called a certification mark where no one gets exclusivity...

But certification marks don't discriminate by national or regional origin, do they?

The COGNAC certification mark was recognized as a common-law certification mark by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in 1998, and specifically for a "common law regional certification mark," so yeah.

[Neil]

Aren't you in Iowa?  Any sort of agricultural protection probably puts a smile on your face.

Be less of a retard Neil.  Iowa exports feed corn and soybeans all around the world.

But the real money is in the federal cash.

[garbon]

Lovely, one of the protesters created an art...piece that features a rotting pig head. She 'sprayed some stuff on it to keep the flies away but its definitely rotting'.

[The Brain]

I agree with Sheilbh, Mart and Yi that restaurants shouldn't get to claim to serve "French" food or "Italian" food unless the food is actually prepared in those countries.

[Ideologue]

There's a procedure in the US called a certification mark where no one gets exclusivity...

But certification marks don't discriminate by national or regional origin, do they?

The COGNAC certification mark was recognized as a common-law certification mark by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in 1998, and specifically for a "common law regional certification mark," so yeah.

Huh.  Well, fair enough.  Lame.

[Ideologue]

Lovely, one of the protesters created an art...piece that features a rotting pig head. She 'sprayed some stuff on it to keep the flies away but its definitely rotting'.

Ok, I think we've found some common ground.  She may be summarily executed.

[Admiral Yi]

But the real money is in the federal cash.

$15 billion nation wide.  That's peanuts compared to total ag production.

[Zoupa]

About the EU naming laws or whatever they're called: it's not only about a certain list of ingredients and a specific method of preparation, it's also about a certain location where the food is grown.

Champagne grapes come from Champagne. You can grow Champagne grapes in a lot of places, but they won't have had their roots in the soil of Champagne. I can start producing something resembling Roquefort in my basement from canadian sheep, but they won't have grazed the hills of Aveyron.

It's the soil that matters.

[garbon]

The arguments about soil, water, etc. aren't as convincing to me, but there again that should be a decision left up to the consumer.