OU sues New Zealand coffee company over trademark

May 6, 2012

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- A New Zealand coffee company and the Union of Orthodox Congregations of America are embroiled in a battle with over its trademark.

In 2007, the Christchurch-based Underground Coffee Company registered its logo, a capital U with a circle around it -- the same logo as the Orthodox Union, which the OU says it registered as its trademark in 1926.

The OU alerted Underground Coffee in 2009, claiming the logo is used on more than 500,000 kosher products worldwide and warned that duplication is "likely to deceive or cause confusion."

The OU says it does not wish to harm Underground but has to protect the integrity of its trademark because people rely on it to deduce whether a product is certified as kosher or not.

A final hearing will be heard soon, Fairfax media reported over the weekend in New Zealand.

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