HONOLULU — A Sweden-based beverage company has opposed the trademark application filed by a Hawaii company for the product Kaholo Coffee.
HONOLULU — A Sweden-based beverage company has opposed the trademark application filed by a Hawaii company for the product Kaholo Coffee.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports attorneys for The Absolut Co. filed an opposition notice against the application last year, arguing that Kaholo Coffee is “confusingly similar” to the company’s product, Kahlua Coffee Liqueur.
Owen O’Callaghan, owner of Hawaiian Happy Cakes, submitted the trademark application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in March for the coffee grown on the Big Island.
O’Callaghan says he was surprised by the opposition, noting that the word kaholo is Hawaiian while the word kahlua is not.
Attorney Louis Ederer says his client, The Absolut Co., would not comment on pending legal proceedings.
The two companies have moved into arbitration after both sides rejected settlement proposals.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
