Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 19, 2018   #1
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default Farm To Fable

A chef stopped by our farm today. He wanted to see where the great chicories and gem lettuce he had been buying were grown.

The problem is, we have not grown chicories or gem lettuce in over 9 years. Our farm's name is being used by a huge produce seller as a way to market "Small" and "Local" produce.

I had this company remove information about our farm 3 years ago, and I am out of my mind to find that we are now, again on their website fraudulently bolstering their "Small" and "Local" product credentials.

Here is the whole story, including the name of the company, in a Facebook post (see the pinned post). I don't want to post the name here because once they remove us from their website I will take the Facebook post down.

Here, also is a link to a great expose in the Farm To Fable trend...
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #2
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

I wasn't very calm on the phone today, when I demanded they immediately remove all mentions of our Farm from their website.
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #3
Nattybo!
Tomatovillian™
 
Nattybo!'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Maryland
Posts: 272
Default

What the heck .

Sorry this is happening to you

The cynic in me never believes the supermarket packages that claim locally sourced. Especially seafood.

There are so many resellers locally to me. The farmers market is a joke. They don’t even try to hide the boxes with California written on them.
Nattybo! is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #4
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

In California, thankfully, farmers' markets are well regulated. The best farmers' markets do periodic inspections of farms to ensure that farms only sell what they grow.

Any weird sticker or strange boxes that indicate you are re-selling can get you kicked out of a market right quick.

No worries about what is happening. After getting ★★★★ed off, it is best just to laugh, and take it all as a weird compliment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nattybo! View Post
What the heck .

Sorry this is happening to you

The cynic in me never believes the supermarket packages that claim locally sourced. Especially seafood.

There are so many resellers locally to me. The farmers market is a joke. They don’t even try to hide the boxes with California written on them.
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #5
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Reminds me of the Kobe beef scams.
The even have what they call ""American"" Kobe beef now on menus.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #6
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

I thought a Kobe beef was when Kobe complains about Shaq

Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Reminds me of the Kobe beef scams.
The even have what they call ""American"" Kobe beef now on menus.

Worth
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #7
AlittleSalt
BANNED FOR LIFE
 
AlittleSalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
Default

I wouldn't have been happy about that either.

I had a couple of pictures I took of Litchi tomato plants that I shared here - The pictures have my hand in them (My two pointer fingers are somewhat unique - they twist at the end from years of laying brick/stone). Someone at a site 'borrowed' and put the pictures on their site. It was irritating, but I let it go. Somehow, it did feel kind of good.

That's nothing compared to someone using your farm name though.
AlittleSalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 19, 2018   #8
rhines81
Tomatovillian™
 
rhines81's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
Default


Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Hempel View Post
I thought a Kobe beef was when Kobe complains about Shaq
rhines81 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #9
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

It's trademark infringement:

https://www.upcounsel.com/common-law-trademark

A common law trademark is a type of infringement protection for intellectual property wherein the property is used in commerce before it's federally registered. The U.S. common law trademark starts when you use the mark in commerce for the first time within a geographic area. It endures with continual, deliberate use and is shown by the superscript symbol "TM."

Business names, taglines, product names, logos, design elements, and sounds used to identify companies are all covered by a common law trademark.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #10
KarenO
Tomatovillian™
 
KarenO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,931
Default

Sent an email. This is BS. I loathe dishonesty and especially people who take credit for others peoples work.
KarenO
KarenO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #11
PhilaGardener
Tomatovillian™
 
PhilaGardener's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1,940
Default

Can you also complain to a state agency? That is fraudulent activity.
PhilaGardener is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #12
nbardo
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Posts: 78
Default

Send them a cease and desist letter (free templates can be found online) and register a complaint with BBB. This could stop the behavior or if they continue it will be easier to make a legal case against them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nbardo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #13
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

Thanks for all of the suggestions!
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #14
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

Just checked and information about our farm has been removed. That's pretty quick. Within 2hrs of the start of the first business day after I notified them.

Likewise, I just removed my shaming facebook post. Maybe now they can find another farm to pretend to buy produce from.
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 20, 2018   #15
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

Facebook shaming better (and faster) than a cease and desist letter?
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:14 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★