I have no idea how we managed to go even this long before this issue which plagues the Indian business community finally came to the forefront. All of us have known about this problem for a long time but have chosen to ignore it. No more:
What’s in a name?
A lot if you’re an Indian grocer, it seems.
Especially if you’re a Patel.The surname — which is as common among people of Asian-Indian descent as Smith or Johnson is among Anglos – has sparked a brief but bitter dispute involving one of the largest vendors of specialty foods to the Indian community.
A suit filed by Patel Brothers, a Chicago-based food distributor with a chain of 27 stores, accuses an Iselin-based store of violating a trademark when it opened last month using the name “Patel Food Market.” A Patel Brothers grocery — Patel’s Cash & Carry — is across the street.
The case was settled last week, and both sides declined to comment. But the court papers offer a window into the fierce competition among Indian grocers, the importance of the Patel name, and the issue of whether companies can legally protect common names or words. [Link]
You guys got to suck it up and just read this whole article. It is filled with priceless gems like this one:
Swetal Patel filed an affidavit saying he hired two off-duty Woodbridge Township police officers to handle the expected heavy flow of traffic during the Memorial Day weekend. But the officers mistakenly reported to Patel Food Market, where they worked and were paid by the owner, the affidavit said. [Link]
Apparently the legal complexities of this case are also quite riveting:
New York-based Little India magazine estimates that there are more than 140,000 Patels in the United States, a large chunk of them in the economy motel business, which is dominated by Indian-Americans.
The prevalence of the name could have made it hard for Patel Brothers to win such a suit, said Frank Pasquale, associate professor of law at Seton Hall Law School…“The judge would be looking at the meaning of the Patel name in the community,” he added. “When people see ‘Patel,’ when consumers in Indian groceries see ‘Patel,’ do they think ‘Patel’ just means the last name of the owner — or do they think it means a larger corporation that owns all the businesses?” [Link]
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p>In the end it comes down to doing what you got to do to make some money:
The Patel name can give vendors an edge, he said, because it is well-known.
“People trust it,” he said. “Sometimes people whose last name is not Patel open a store under ‘Patel.’ ” [Link]
I actually also once pretended to be Patel. It was in order to meet women at a Patel conference I attended. My cover was blown when one of them asked me which of the six ghams I was from and I didn’t know the name of even one of them. I should have researched the issue better. In the end I think that lawsuits aren’t the best way to solve these matters. There is a far simpler way. Decide it on the field. Winner take all.
i was mistaken as a patel…a few times… maybe they should make it a shah empire…ahh the ghams…are you charotar, leva, kadva, matya? :)…i grew up with a ton of patels… yes, you should’ve researched it beforehand abhi… you’re usually so thorough :)…
can we call this a patel rap?
that song (or rap, or whatever it was) rocked my world in the late 80s or whenever it came out…made me laugh my head off…
I played a little role in my uni graduation film as an Asian DJ in an Elvis impersonators contest… so I called myself Hardi ‘Heartbreak’ Patel of Pill, Newport. Was a laugh!
The Times of India carries a full two-page spread on Patels today. Some self-glorifying stuff sponsored by Nirma and others. Co-incidental I read your post!
Me a patel married to a non-patel. When I retained my surname after marriage, ppl said I shd change it just so that “it wd be easier to get a US or UK visa” 🙂
Getting tough for patels I guess. 🙂
I know of the Patel Brothers and they are what you would call the epitome of living the bachlor’s dream. They have huge Penthouse’s in downtown Chicago and when ever any of those talentless bollywood shows come to town, guess where the actresses stay? God I hate them.
Trademark cases look at semi-vague criteria like consumer confusion. I’d have to say that having a Patel Food Market and Patel’s Cash and Carry in the same vicinity would suggest that either or both are affiliated with the more famous Patel Brothers brand.
Correct me if I’m mistaken, but doesn’t the Patel Brothers label appear on grocery items as well? That just bolsters their case, especially if a non-Patel Brothers store carries that merchandise.
As a hypothetical, say that one of the actual brothers of the Patel Brothers (I don’t know their names, so I’ll call him Chachi) decided to leave the empire and start on his own. Even he’s not going to get away with using the Patel name in any sort of similar retail. “Patel’s Tuxedo Rentals” might be okay, but if he stuck with food he’d have to call it “Chachi Patel’s Flying Sev Shop” to avoid the legal wrath of his brother, Fonzie. So why would an unrelated Patel think they had a chance?
To sum, the owners of the Patel Brothers trademark make a valid claim. Certainly as valid as one that could be made by Johnson & Johnson, or the Smith’s Food and Drug chain.
chick pea– as a patil (pronounced Paatil as opposed to puhtel), i have acquired (what must be by now) an almost pathological habit of correcting people when they pronounce my last name as patel… to me its like as if schmidt (german) were to be confused with smith (english) or smyth (protestant irish). however, i’m still allowed to make fun of people who say “no no, it’s dAAveed, not david” in a connecticut accent. they’re just posers… i’m for real…
also, a fun game to play for any other patils out there is to look up all of the patels in a given phone book and compare them to the number of patils… last count: brooklyn/queens (718)– patels: ~200, patils: 5. current count: montreal (514)– patel’s: ~60, patil’s: 1 (ME!) (in case you’re wondering, all the canadian indians live in toronto… i’m sure patel has its own thumbnailed chapter there…)
whoa… off to bed…
Abhi: Waaay back in early 70’s when I was working at a well known engineering firm in downtown Chicago, there were lots of patels. My office was next to a patel. One day someone was looking for this patel, came to me and said, “Hi Mr. Patel”! Before he goes on I stopped him and said, “Are you purposely trying to insult me by calling me Patel?”. Guess what? Next door patel heard this and was really furious. He started friendly dispute. What do ya mean? and on and on… These were the days when we had more Patels and Shahs than Smiths or Johnsons. I guess the situation has gotten real bad since then, nowadays they start in-fighting!! I remember when we used to live in San Jose, a frontpage headline I read in San Francisco’s newspaper ” Hotels Motels and Patels”
You know it’s hard out here for a Patel. When you tryin-a get this money for the rent…
DD:
You got that damn right. It’s a doggy dog world out there. Especially when there are peeps who are trying to imitate us.
If the name “Patel” is problematic, people should start with “Gandhi”, since it is a well known name. Plus, Amreekans are familiar with this name too. This will draw in business that goes beyond the usual Desi consumer market.
“Gandhi Grocers” “Gandhi Bros” “Gandhi Sweets and Spices” “Gandhi Indo-Pak Groceries” “Gandhi Bazaar”
Long live the Guju Empire———
Trademark infringement? Puhleese…
Here’s a nice and relevant trademark issue.
Anheuser-Busch company which makes the popular Budweiser beer in the US bought the rights as the official beer of the world cup for $40 million. But in Germany there is already a another popular Budweiser existing which has created trademark problems for Anheuser-Busch.
A snippet:
Althought I agree that the Bud story isnt as interesting as the Patel story. I agree, “Its hard out here for a Patel” 🙂
There’s a Curry Joint in Basingstoke, UK, where the Patel owner sports an Elvis haircut. Guess what some patrons call him: Patelvis 🙂
Oh my…I’m a Patel and my fav line I’ve gotten was “oh, do you know so and so…” and this is not from Indian people, but random grocery store clerks, etc. No we’re not all related. And Abhi, researching the gham system is harder thanyou think! Although born in India (raised here) and being a Patel, I have no idea what are the 6 ghams or where my dad’s town classifies amogst them! 😛
I don’t think that’s an issue. Patel Bros is a distributor to a lot of no-name indian groceries, so they should be fully aware of who is reselling their products. There is some reference to that in the article:
I think this is a petty argument that has no substance to it… a Battle for Patel Supremacy, if you will. At the end of the day, I still need to put on a hazmat suit to get my Maaza fix, or risk smelling of curry for the rest of the day…. but I digress…
The article does address the legal trademark issues and sort of disputes some of your claims. I don’t think they would succeed in protecting the name Patel for their business purposes. They do however have a legal claim to the brand “Patel Brothers” so they need to put more effort into differentiating their brandname in the marketplace instead of frivolous lawsuits. I think a lot of their newer stores have a similar storefront look in terms of the signage with the font-type, color scheme, etc. I guess they need to be retroactive and make sure their other stores, i.e. “Patel Widgets & Knick-Knacks” is renamed to “Patel Brothers Widgets & Knick-Knacks”