Brown vs. Startup Over a Sandwich 119
An anonymous reader writes "Crunchbutton, founded by Yale grads, is trying to replicate the success of its one-button food delivery service in and around Brown University. The controversy began when the startup delivered a popular Brown sandwich called the 'Spicy With' to students. Brown's lawyers sent Crunchbutton a cease and desist letter, demanding that the company remove any associations with the university or its name. The startup says it has complied with the demands, yet Brown has not backed off, and it expects to be served with a lawsuit. This tale illustrates the perils of encouraging entrepreneurship while protecting the interests of a big educational institution."
Wha... ? (Score:4, Interesting)
They do not claim to be the restaurant, they claim to be a courier service. They mention what the restaurant provides, and they create a method to allow one to use school-food-accounts to pay for it. The restaurant and thus the school still gets paid.
Then there are somewhat generic words like "Brown" and "Spicy With". I am curious as to how the school could hold on to "Spicy With" when that's a description, in the same fashion that Apple got denied trademark on "iPad Mini" because it's a description, not a name...