A Saskatoon entrepreneur says he’s being harassed for his hummus.
Johannes Petros, owner of Hanes’ Hummus, received a cease-and-desist letter last week from North Carolina-based underwear manufacturing giant Hanes ordering him to stop using the Hanes name. They threatened to sue the local business owner.
“They’re out to lunch,” Petros said.
Petros has been making and selling hummus in Saskatchewan for the past four-and-a-half years. He said he named his product after his nickname, Hanes, a shortened version of Johannes.
The underwear company’s legal counsel argued in the letter that the products are too similar.
“The mark Hanes’ Hummus is essentially identical and confusingly similar to the Hanes mark,” stated a portion of the letter.
Petros disagrees. He does not believe his brand name will confuse customers.
“There’s absolutely no way anyone with an understanding of clothing and an understanding of food would get the two confused,” he said.
Petros sought legal advice of his own and returned a letter to the American Hanes stating he would not being changing his brand’s name.
“I don’t feel I am infringing on their trademark because they are simply known as Hanes, where my brand is called Hanes’ Hummus.”
Petros is still waiting to hear back from the company.
“Right now it’s business as usual.”
