Tabberone's Hall of Shame - Hansen Beverages

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Hansen Beverages
Hall Of Shame Member
Added April 16, 2008

Hansen Beverages appears to be doing everything right according to the marketing pundits. They, along with Red Bull, dominate the energy drink market. Their Monster Energy drink is right up there. So, we ask, what idiot at Hansen Beverages made the stupid decision to hire Continental Enterprises as their Cyber Cops? Cyber Cops are companies for hire that troll the internet and eBay looking for trademark and copyright infringement. Sometimes, like with Continental Enterprises, these Cyber Cops fabricate infringement claims so they may collect their commissions.
No, you exclaim! That just can't be! Surely you jest? No, Virginia, we jest not. Along with being stupid, Continental Enterprises has crossed over to the Really Dark Side by accusing someone of trademark infringement by fabricating the evidence. All, we note, on behalf of Hansen Beverages and Monster Energy.

Seems a custom design place, was contacted to do some artwork on a vehicle. The vehicle owner wanted to get some custom work done for a car show. According to the owner:
"Hansen was sponsoring the vehicle, meaning they were paying for all of the work being done to the vehicle for the vehicles owner."
"The owner of the vehicle had Hansens authorization from the man in charge of marketing, to do whatever work was necessary to promote the energy drink on the vehicle."

So, you ask, what is the problem? Why did Continental Enterprises get involved? Possibly because the custom design place wasn't listed as a licensee of Hansen's? But, then why not make a few inquiries before sending an extortion letter? Darlene Seymour, now General Counsel for Continental Enterprises, wants mo' money, mo' money, mo' money. Those voices she listens to are getting hungry.
More from Lisa:
We did receive one email from an "ASSociate" of Continental, requesting our catalogue be mailed to them at the following address: Marissa Anderson, 30 Shoshone Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, the email address is Manderson@arcmail.us. What originally set this in motion is that someone from Continental called our shop and asked if we could do something that was on our web site and we said yes, as we pride ourselves in being able to do anything, so our employee quoted the person a cost of $400.00 to $450.00, that was back on January 8, 2008.
So, while not illegal, Continental Enterprises engaged in some undercover work to see what was available but Continental Enterprises then crossed over the line to the Really Dark Side. Continental Enterprises accused the custom design place based solely on the catalogue and the telephone call. But, the catalogue didn't have the image in question in it. So, apparently needing the money, Darlene Seymour fabricated the claim that the custom design place "had infringed just by (their) employee stating that the work could be done."
Darlene, Darlene, what are you smoking? The Lanham Act requires the the trademark must be used in commerce to be considered infringing. There is no relevant federal trademark law that makes "intent" infringing, even if that is what was said. But, Darlene, unlike you, Lisa is an intelligent business person and her business does not do artwork unless they are sure they have permission from the IP owner. Yes, the employee said they could do the work. That was provided you appeared with the right to have it done.
Welcome to Tabberone's Hall Of Shame to Hansen Beveragess. May your stay be eventful.

Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site.
If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion.
We made this offer a very long time ago and as of September 2008, only AnimieHot.com, in our Hall Of Shame, and Charlotte Perman (Sevenarts in our Hall Of Shame) have chosen to submit a formal rebuttal.