To recap briefly, Ben & Jerry’s “brand integrity” board sued Unilever to stop it from selling the ice cream maker’s business in Israel to its long-term Israeli licensee/manufacturer/distributor, Avi Zinger and his company, American Quality Products Limited . This, despite the fact that Ben & Jerry’s didn’t raise the issue in the same case or even sue in the same court adjudicating Zinger’s suit against – and now settlement with – Unilever.
The judge wanted to know more about the ice cream company’s claim there was imminent danger Unilever would sell rights to its normal, English-language trademark to Zinger. Because the issue was first raised during the hearing, Unilever was caught a little flat-footed.to the judge, explaining a sale of rights to the English-language trademark wasn’t in the offing:
Neither reason suffices. Such purported harm is too speculative to constitute irreparable harm. The injunctive relief sought cannot issue on the basis of a hypothetical scenario involving several speculative steps, namely that new products will be introduced, those products will seek to convey a particular message, and the new owners then will market those products to convey a contrary message.
What happens when you take the parent company's money...