Marks & Spencer. Right or wrong?

[Dawg]

Has anyone else seen a range in M&S called "COOK!". It is frozen food , and quite good. Trouble is that there is a company in the South East called COOK (no exclamation mark), which does very good frozen food, and has been going longer than the M&S range.
M&S claim that the exclamation mark sets their products apart, and that they are not doing anything wrong. I'm sure they are not breaking any laws, but could they be doing something wrong by bullying a smaller company? Sort of, our litigation budget is bigger than your litigation budget?
If so should consumers let them know we disapprove, (if we do)?
What does anyone out there think?
(I have no connection wth either company, I just don't like big companies flexing muscles.)

[Ian J]

If so should consumers let them know we disapprove, (if we do)?

There are far worse things that we should have complained about to the big supermarkets than the name on the label and the great British public have shown their complete indifference to anything comnnected with food.

We are fed a diet of chemically enhanced prepackaged food plus meat, vegetables and fruit that have no taste whatsoever so I would have thought that the label that M&S decide to stick on their food is the least of our worries as at least we aren't supposed to eat it.

[Jayne]

Our Bakery is called The Bakers Dozen, I know of another near Hull, but it doesn't bother me!

What does bother me, is big supermarkets killing small traders and suppliers, especially farmers! They sell things that cheap they dominate the whole market. Small shops cannot compete on price, even on identical products.

For example, we could pay say £12 per bag of flour and the supermarkets get the same flour for about £5 per bag. This I find unfair! Our profit would be much less if we sold the finished product for the same price as the supermarket.

Anyway, enough of ranting!

Jayne :D

[Whistle Ink]

Jayne,

Do you still shop at supermarkets? Do you go there to find a bargain? You could not say that it's not fair when you are looking for products at cheaper prices!!!

The lower prices are there because the consumer demands it and the supermarkets know that price is what matters to us. If we insisted on a quality product at a slightly higher price, and no one had suffered a loss for it then that is what I assume they would give us!

:D

[Jayne]

Jayne,

Do you still shop at supermarkets? Do you go there to find a bargain? You could not say that it's not fair when you are looking for products at cheaper prices!!!

The lower prices are there because the consumer demands it and the supermarkets know that price is what matters to us. If we insisted on a quality product at a slightly higher price, and no one had suffered a loss for it then that is what I assume they would give us!

:D


The bit I said that was unfair, was the stock bit! They should pay £12 per bag too, it's the same flour and the same size! Then we could all compete on a lower price and quality, the customer would get a better product then!

I don't mind a fight as long as the rules are fair!

Jayne :D

[Whistle Ink]

But if you were buying 10,000 ags of flour instead if 1,000 - wouldn't you expect a better price?

[gordonthegofor]

I feel the same in the construcion industry if a customer goes to one of my supplyers thay could get just as good a price as I can
Having a trade account appears to mean nothing

[Jayne]

But where does it end? I personally thing the stock should be the same, then you can compete on price, quality and customer service! I believe in France, supermarkets are governed to help small traders!

Oh and the Asda is doing really cheap ink cartridges now too, washing machines etc :D

Did you know all of the electrical stores near us have now shut down, the only place you can get these elec stuff from is the Argos or Asda! We used to have about 3 shops we could buy things like food mixers in, not anymore!

I like the little shops the best, but it's not the same now, with so many shutting down.

Jayne

[gordonthegofor]

dont forget B&Q killed the DIY shop

[Jayne]

We used to have a lovely little DIY shop in town, not anymore. B&Q, focus etc all popped up and now it's gone!

We still use the little wallpaper shop, don't know how long for though?

Jayne

[gordonthegofor]

Focus? Oh yes I rember them
we in aberdeen used to have about about 7 DIY warehouses they killed the local shops now we are down to 3 with another one about 10 miles outof town

[Jayne]

I used to love shopping in town, we had three butchers, one has closed and the other two have turned into sandwich shops. Our Co-op is just closing too, which is a shame, it's been there for years. There isn't a greengrocers in town now, just one on the outskirts.

Therefore, you have to shop in the supermarkets now, as there is know-where else!

Jayne

[gordonthegofor]

when the oil gets too expencive the local shopes will be reborn tescos ect can only work because of ther distrubtion network

ps had computer problims and lost that spell chequer you recomended
could you tell me whare to find it again

[Jayne]

Here,

Found your thread, cannot remember which you used, so I got the thread link for you!

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/ftopic7831.php&highlight=spell+checker

Jayne :D

[Cornish Steve]

Has anyone else seen a range in M&S called "COOK!". It is frozen food , and quite good. Trouble is that there is a company in the South East called COOK (no exclamation mark), which does very good frozen food, and has been going longer than the M&S range.
M&S claim that the exclamation mark sets their products apart, and that they are not doing anything wrong.
Going back to the question, wouldn't it depend on whether or not the smaller company has registered a trademark? If so, I would say that M&S are violating that mark. The names relate to the same type of product, they are very similar, and confusion could exist in the mind of the consumer. These are usually important criteria when it comes to trademark violation.

[creative-keyrings]

I personally feel their doing nothing wrong. I love their cook! range yet i still buy things from the shop cook.

It's just offering M&S customers more of a choice.

[Cornish Steve]

I personally feel their doing nothing wrong.
Imagine that you spend five years establishing Creative Keyrings. Then, along come M&S and introduce a very similar product under the brand name Creative Keyrings! How would you react after five years of hard work? What if the M&S product is of inferior quality? How much would the M&S move dilute your brand?

This is one reason we have trademarks in the first place: to protect the brand.

[clairemackaness]

Are we talking about the same COOK shop as the one in Billericay http://www.cookfood.net/about/

If so it specialises in fresh home made produce that is like home cooking. The idea being you can serve it up at a dinner party and nobody knows it's not home made.

I dont think that the M&S range has quite the same idea behind it does it?

There are a lot of companies out there that rip off names, if you look at I cant believe its not butter, almost every supermarket does it's own range.

As for large stores beating small ones, it's always been an issue. In Billericay we had a small family run art shop which had been trading since I was tiny. Hobbycraft opened down the road and it was forced to close down.

The small retailer will always be competing with the large, I think it's just a fact of life.

[Dawg]

Yes Steve,
the trademark is important, and M&S claim that it is theirs, although always stressing that it is with the exclamation mark.
Given that the law has not been broken I was trying to find out if anybody (else) thought this behaviour a tad unsavoury. Keeping within the law is not everything: if you were interviewing for a job and the candidate said his strongest feature was that he did not break the law, you might be slightly wary of his attitude. You'd want more than just adherance to the law, diligence perhaps, trust, the ability to win respect from your clients. So M&S might not be breaking the law but don't we expect more of them, and ourselves?
Or should we live by Sun Tzu's "On the Art of War"?

[dagr]

I find it hard to believe that if "Cook" was trademarked, then "Cook!" would be allowed. I mean, if that is the case, then I would never bother trademarking anything as it would be useless.

[DuaneJackson]

Going back to the question, wouldn't it depend on whether or not the smaller company has registered a trademark?

Nope - there could still be a passing off cliam without any trademark having been registered.

I'd have thought they'd have a case, but wouldn't get vey far against M&S and their legal budget.

Big Cook, Little Cook! : )

[Dawg]

The trademark is a Device and Word Trademark "Marks & Spencer Cook!".
It appears to be a B/W device so whilst the trademark is theirs, a) "Cook" is not, as a word, theirs, and b) by using the word "Cook!" in orange, with "Marks and Spencer" in a bland colour merging into the background, might be seen as passing off. Tm 2233318.
It is a case of big swinging d*cks/legal budget.
(And re. Mr Mills: lawyers are not always right...)