Hershey’s Chocolate Files Multi Million Dollar Federal Lawsuit against 313 Merchandise!

Posted in Parody T-Shirts on June 6th, 2007 by webmaster

4.6 Billion Dollar Candy Giant The Hershey Co. has filed a Federal Trademark Infringement Lawsuit against our Los Angeles based company 313 Merchandise over two t-shirt designs parodying the logo for Milk Duds, where the name “Milk” was changed to MILF and a design where the word Reese’s was changed to Feece’s.

It has been over 2 years now since 313 Merch first received a Cease & Desist letter from Hershey’s Attorney asking us to stop selling our 2 designs mocking there infamous Milk Duds & Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. We immediately complied to their demands and removed all alleged infringing merchandise from our site. Hershey’s strong arming tactics continued and has now snow balled into a multi million dollar trademark dilution lawsuit against our t-shirt business. We now since have changed our direction of designing funny shirts. 313 Merch basically has said goodbye to The T-Shirt Parody world of twisting corporate trademarks into our own form of humorous art we once loved to create.

Many small business companies like our own are served frivolous lawsuits across America everyday. Corporate lawyers are constantly searching the web looking for potential money makers and abusing there rights to protect there trademarks by using such Cease & Desist techniques and intimidation. America’s small business owners are being taken to the cleaners by trial lawyers and lawsuit abuse is running rampant across our civil courts systems. Hershey’s Chocolate do not find any humor in anything that resembles or pokes fun at their chocolate empire. They are currently seeking judgment against other companies like the Women’s Maternity Wear “MILK DUDZ” , a lawsuit against Vendomatic Inc. for there parody sticker of York Peppermint Patties “DORK”, a shirt parody of Hershey’s Kisses, and most recent case for parodying the packaging of many of Hershey’s famous candies. Marijuana Laced Candy.

There is one institute that is fighting for your rights as a small business owner.

The Institute for Legal Reform


Parody T-Shirts or Trademark Infringement?

Posted in Parody T-Shirts on May 20th, 2007 by webmaster

I can remember going to the t shirt store as a kid back in the day. These stores were strung down the ocean boardwalk or at the local mall or head shop/ record store. These t-shirt shops had many designs, decals or iron on heat transfers all over the walls covering every square inch of the store were transfers.

Back in the 70′s you could pick a design off the wall like a Tattoo and in less than 5 minutes walk out the door with your brand new t-shirt! Even personalized if you chose. And remember the smell of the Hot Press meeting the transfer? But through all the Farrah Fawcet, Chips, Mork And Mindy, Im with stupid and Kiss transfers was a new breed of humor T Shirt known as “A Parody T-Shirt”. Harmless apparel which basically made you think of the product it was spoofing and lead to the urge to buy that particular brand, remember “Garbage Pail Kids?”.

One of the very first I can remember was Enjoy Cocaine which was spoofing the Coca Cola Logo, at first I walked past this design thinking Coca Cola but with a longer view I was mistaken for what really read Enjoy Cocaine.. How cool I thought! What a great subliminal advertising mind trick. The shirts came by the dozens Dr. Pepper was Now Dr. Pecker and so on.

Well those days are now about gone. With tougher laws being enforced today by Big Corporation’s protecting there Trademarked Logo’s, the Parody T-Shirt is becoming a shirt of the past. More to come on this subject.

Enjoy Cocaine