I cannot blame Hormel for being upset that the name of their popular canned lunch meat has been transformed into describing the repugnant bulk e-mail that clogs our inboxes every day. The fact that they are going after an anti-spam utility called Spam Arrest in court seems to be perfectly justifiable. The problem for Hormel, is trademark law probably isn't on their side.

The company added that Spam Arrest's name so closely resembles that of its lunchmeat that the public might become confused, or might think that Hormel endorses Spam Arrest's products.

Perhaps our friends in legal circles can weigh in here. As I've always understood the law, a trademark infringement usually has to stem from confusion between the two products. When two companies make completely different products, they are allowed to share similar trademarks. That means that Hormel needs to make the case that someone might accidentally purchase the Spam Arrest e-mail blocking software, thinking that they are purchasing canned meat.

Trademark law seems to be somewhat forgiving in this respect. For instance General Motors and General Mills, both have similar names and initials, but make completely different products. CBS, who owned The Nashville Network (now the National Network, wants to be SpikeTV) sued The Network Network (TNN) for trademark infringement to get the rights to their domain name, TNN.com Their claim was pretty weak, given the fact that TNN had been around longer than The Nashville Network, and that TNN.com sold network maintenance and other IT related services. In his ruling, the judge comically wrote:

Unlikely indeed is the hapless Internet searcher who, unable to find information on the schedule of upcoming NASCAR broadcasts or 'Dukes of Hazzard' reruns, decided to give up and purchase a computer network maintenance seminar instead.

Being that the two businesses were sufficiently different, CBS lost their case, and faced a motion for attorney's fees from the defendant. I'm afraid Hormel will face the same uphill battle that CBS faced.