Benihana Thinks Morons In A Hurry Will Be Confused By Rap Artist Benny Hunna's Name

from the can-i-get-that-rapped? dept

Trademarks, ostensibly to do with preventing customer confusion, sometimes get quite strange. Just in recent days, we've seen ESPN use a trademark to magically turn a Saturday into a Thursday, we've seen a serious discussion occur over whether or not people might confuse chicken with kale, and all the breweries everywhere are fighting over trademark quite possibly because they're drunk. Sigh.

But if you just can't get your silly-trademark-dispute fill, get ready for dessert: Benihana, a restaurant chain, is challenging Benny Hodges' trademark application for his rapper stage name "Benny Hunna," suggesting that customers looking for Japanese fusion food might accidentally end up at a hip hop concert.

Mississippi rapper Benny Hodges is currently up against the Florida-based teppanyaki chain Benihana in a legal battle over the right to trademark his would-be stage name, “Benny Hunna,” because the chain alleges that the similarity would create “confusion in the marketplace,” reports TMZ. Now, protectors of the Benihana legacy have reportedly challenged Hodge’s application to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which would surely get in the way of the rapper’s alleged plans to “build an entertainment empire called Benny Hunna TV.”

What moron in what kind of a hurry is going to somehow think that Benny Hunna is in any way an extension of the Benihana restaurant chain? In what way are these two entities operating within the same marketplace? Also, who would actually think that filing this kind of trademark opposition is in any way productive, endearing, or good business? It's like the lawyers were just bored or something, because Benny Hunna isn't even a thing in the rap game yet.

At 290 Twitter followers and a scant 490 views on his latest music video, Hodges has a long way to go, but we wish him well on his road to building his Benny Hunna entertainment empire.

Bet you he has more followers and views now that Benihana decided to give him, and his disputed name, all this free publicity. Way to go, guys.

Filed Under: benihana, benny hunna, likelihood of confusion, moron in a hurry, trademark
Companies: benihana