Canadian ‘Pickle Fest’ Rebranded Under Bullshit Trademark Threat

I'll let you all in on a little secret: I love pickles. Yes, let that statement spawn a million jokes in the comments; I don't care. Pickles are great and the fresher the better. I began gardening specifically so that I could grow cucumbers, garlic, onion, and dill, just so I could make my own at home. And, because I investigate pickle brines the way a sommelier inspects a glass of red zinfandel from a freshly tapped cask, I've been to my share of pickle festivals.

So perhaps I'm in a slightly protective posture having come across an article about how one pickle festival in Canada, the Downtown Brandon International Pickle Fest, had to rebrand under threat from Picklefest Canada, which somehow has a trademark on the term Pickle Fest".

Aly Wowchuk, who is one of the organizers, said the trademark issue forced a name change - but not a change in spirit.

It's the same event, we have the same heart and soul, it just has a different name," she told the Sun. We were not sued ... we received an email on behalf of Picklefest Canada's lawyer about the use of Pickle Fest.' There was a lot of back and forth between lawyers about the use of the name, but ultimately, it was easier for us to move forward and change the name of the Brandon Pickle Fest event."

This is the outcome of a point we've made for years and years: Trademark bullying happens because it generally works. And this is trademark bullying. As in the States, Canadian trademark law does include prohibitions on trademarking descriptive marks. Picklefest Canada is an organization with a trademark on its name and logo and it primarily, you guessed it, puts on pickle festivals. To that end, its trademark rights ought to be extremely limited. Limited, I would say, to its use of the term in overall branding and marketing iconography, as that can be described as original and creative.

But the idea that such a trademark could be wielded to prevent other people, groups, or municipalities from putting on their own pickle fests is plainly at odds with how trademarks are supposed to work. But when a small entity is bullied by a larger one, they often feel they have no choice but to rebrand.

Wowchuk said the new name, Brandon Brine Bash, was chosen in part to stand out in an increasingly crowded field of pickle-themed events.

With the popularity of pickle festivals across Canada and internationally, almost every variation of pickle party' or pickle palooza' has been used," she said. We wanted something unique that included Brandon and was easy to find."

The rebrand also required updates to the festival's logo, created by local artist Alexander Matheson. While the iconic pickle design has been retained and modernized, references to Pickle Fest" have been removed.

It's too bad that a simple festival to celebrate one of man's greatest inventions has to devolve in overly protective intellectual property bullshit. And it's equally too bad that nobody has yet stood up to Big Pickle to get this nonsense trademark cancelled.