The ‘Koozie’ People Bullied A Wooden Drink Sleeve Product, ‘Woodzie’, Into A Name Change – Above the Law

I’ve
said
it
roughly
a
zillion
times: trademark
bullying exists
because
it
works.
One
of
the
unfortunate
inequities
of
our
system
is
that
having
a
large
legal
warchest
simply
allows
someone
to
push
around
others
over
trademark
“concerns”
that
aren’t
valid.
The
formula
for
this
is
consistent.
Large
corporate
interest
with
lawyers
at
the
ready
will
police
the
country
for
any
uses
of
a
term
in
any
way
close
to
the
corporation’s
trademark,
and
C&D
its
victim
into
making
a
change,
which
itself
only
happens
because
the
victim
can’t
afford
to
fight
back.
It
sucks,
but
it’s
reality.

But
I’ll
admit
I
didn’t
expect
the
koozie
people to
have
such
a
dirth
of
chill over
this
sort
of
thing.
The
Koozie
Group
is
the
company
that
holds
the
trademark
for
the
word
“koozie”,
which
I
didn’t
even
know
was
a
registered
mark.
I
personally
have
always
used
the
term
generically
to
refer
to
a
drink
sleeve.
Better
Wheel
Workshops
makes
drink
sleeves
out
of
wood
and
named
its
product
“the
woodzie”.

Better
Wheel
Workshops
in
Newfane
produces
wood
can
insulators
previously
known
as
“The
Woodzie.”
The
husband
and
wife
team
made
them
for
about
a
decade
until
the
Koozie
Group
filed
a
petition
to
cancel
the
trademark.

The
Chevaliers
said
they
were
informed
about
a
year-and-a-half
ago
that
Koozie
Group,
a
large
corporation
based
in
Clearwater,
Fla.
that
owns
the
trademark
phrase
“Koozie,”
filed
a
petition
with
the
U.S.
Patent
and
Trademark
Office
to
cancel
“The
Woodzie”
trademark
due
to
potential
confusion.

Now,
the
couple
is
tentatively
changing
the
name
of
the
product
to
“Tree
Sleeve.”
The
website, betterwheelvt.com,
will
stay
and
any
mention
of
“The
Woodzie”
will
be
removed.

“We
have
until
the
end
of
the
year
for
the
full
switchover,”
Jeff
said.
“We’re
notifying
all
wholesale
partners
of
the
change
in
the
name
and
rebranding
products
in
house.”

Now,
there
are
a
lot
of
other
companies
out
there
that
are
using
the
term
“koozie”
that
have
nothing
to
do
with
The
Koozie
Group.
You
can
do
a
simple
Google
shopping
search
and
find
them.
I
would
also
argue
that
“The
Woodsie”
is
a
name
and
product
type
that
is
transformative
enough
that
I
have
a
hard
time
believing
any
real
public
confusion
of
association
is
likely.
At
a
minimum,
this
sounds
to
me
like
a
fight
worth
fighting,
all
else
being
equal.

But
that’s
the
point:
all
else
is not equal.
Specifically,
the
ability
to
fight
the
fight
monetarily
is
not
equal.

Jeff
said
the
dispute
cost
his
family
“a
little
in
legal
fees.”

“And
by
a
little
bit,
I
mean
quite
a
lot
actually,
but
it
is
what
it
is,”
he
said.
“It’s
the
cost
of
doing
business.”

Jeff
said
“The
Woodzie”
was
trademarked
in
2019
after
being
in
use
since
2015.
The
dispute
with
the
Koozie
Group
began
about
a
year-and-a-half
ago.
The
family
is
working
with
a
trademark
attorney
on
the
new
name.

“We
don’t
want
to
go
through
the
same
thing
all
over
again,”
Jeff
said,
“so
we’re
really
trying
to
scrub
the
world
and
make
sure
we’re
not
stepping
on
any
toes.”

It’s
just
too
bad
we
don’t
have
a
better
mechanism
for
the
little
guy
to
fight
back
on
this
sort
of
thing.
I
remain
convinced
that
“koozie”
and
“woodzie”
are
distinct
enough
to
prevent
customer
confusion.
While
“koozie”
is
somewhat
creative
and
fanciful,
it
ultimately
derives
from
“tea
cozy”
in
Britain,
making
the
leap
to
“woodzie”
a
trademark
issue
largely
over
the
letters
“i”
and
“e”.

Given
that
and
the
lack
of
policing
of
the
mark
elsewhere,
this
strikes
me
as
a
fight
that
The
Koozie
Group
didn’t
have
to
start.
But
it
did
and,
because
trademark
bullying
works,
a
smaller
company
did
the
math
and
found
that
caving
was
cheaper
than
fighting.

The
‘Koozie’
People
Bullied
A
Wooden
Drink
Sleeve
Product,
‘Woodzie’,
Into
A
Name
Change

+263 242 744 677

4 Gunhill Avenue,

The ‘Koozie’ People Bullied A Wooden Drink Sleeve Product, ‘Woodzie’, Into A Name Change – Above the Law