LAWSUIT Coca-Cola doesn't like the sound of Kokie Koala
Coke argues the Australian woman's business name is too similar to its own.
ATLANTA (AP) -- A breast cancer survivor who wants to help fund golf lessons for disadvantaged children is fighting efforts by The Coca-Cola Co. to stop her from using a similar sounding name to market her business.
Virginia Richardson, an Australian native who now lives in Baltimore, formed Kokie Koala Inc. in 1997, but was sidetracked in her efforts to start her business selling golf club head covers because of her health problems.
Following her recovery, she decided to get her business going again. Two years ago, she filed a request with the government to trademark her company's name.
Enter Coke.
On July 21, lawyers for the world's largest beverage maker filed an objection with the U.S. trademark office to Richardson's application. The company also sent a letter to Richardson, dated May 11, asking that she stop using the name for her company.
In their objection, Coke lawyers Melissa Howard and Bruce Baber argue that allowing Richardson to market the name of her company would cause confusion among consumers because it is similar sounding to Coca-Cola. The lawyers also note that Coke's trademark is used to market similar products as Richardson wants to, such as golf balls, tees, clubs, divot repair tools and golf bags.
Atlanta-based Coke says its trademark has been in continuous use since 1886.
The lawyers say Richardson's trademark request "falsely suggests a connection or affiliation" with Coca-Cola and, therefore, she should not be entitled to register her company's name.
The opposition is pending before the trademark office's trial and appeal board, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Richardson has until Sept. 14 to formally respond to Coke's objection, according to a letter to her from her attorney.
Response
Richardson, a 52-year-old former public relations specialist, said the name of her company is based on her favorite childhood toy -- a koala -- and the name she called it as an infant -- Kokie. She said she wasn't even thinking of Coca-Cola when she came up with it.
Richardson, who hasn't yet started selling any of her products, said 50 percent of the money from her business was supposed to go toward helping disadvantaged youngsters learn to play golf.
"I find it absolutely appalling that, in a land of free enterprise a person that is trying to do something good, decent, delightful with all the best qualities in the world, a multinational company has the ability to kill something named Kokie, a koala," Richardson said. "But they haven't killed me. I'm still a fighter."
Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said his company had tried to resolve the dispute before filing its objection through several conversations with Richardson and her lawyer. But that could not be worked out, he said.
"The Coke trademark is our most valuable asset and we have to be diligent and consistent in protecting it," Deutsch said.
Name change
At one point, Deutsch said, Richardson's lawyer suggested changing the name of his client's company to Kokie the Koala and that Coke said that could be a possible solution but it wanted it in writing. Deutsch said the company never heard back.
However, Richardson's lawyer, John Knoble, said Coke never indicated the name change would be a solution. Even so, he said his client may be amenable to it now.
"I don't think Kokie Koala poses a threat to Coca-Cola," Knoble said. "I certainly don't think consumers confuse Kokie Koala with the mark of Coca-Cola."
Lawson Mitchell, a golf pro in Ormond Beach, Fla., and a business partner of Richardson, said he doesn't know what all the fuss is about over the name of the company.
"I don't see any similarities," Mitchell said. "The koala has been a lifetime animal of Australia."