dahlbergcentral

Coca-Cola, Swedish Family Fight Over Name

Tue Apr 15,11:35 AM ET

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – The cola wars have entered a new dimension in Sweden.

This time, the Coca-Cola Co. isn’t battling Pepsi-Cola International, but a family with the surname Urge. That also happens to the name of a citrus drink bottled by Coke that’s available only in Norway.

Coke has registered the name as a trademark in Sweden, but not launched in there. In the United States, the caffeine-loaded drink is called Surge.

Members of the Urge family tried to repeal the trademark, concerned that their name would become associated with a soft drink.

Swedish law prohibits registration of trademarks that use someone else’s family name. But the Court of Patent Appeals ruled in favor of Coca-Cola last month, saying the English word “urge” was more commonly known than the family name, which is pronounced “OOR-geh.”

Members of the Urge family didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

There are six people in Sweden listed with the last name Urge, according to Statistics Sweden. Four of them are involved in the court case.

If Coke really wants to use a Swedish surname for a soft drink without engaging in litigation, I volunteer “Dahlberg” in the hopes of fostering peace and goodwill. Price negotiable.

Duh: Fake bank site part of Nigerian scam

Well-known Internet con gets more elaborate

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, “Bill” played out the con with e-mail suitors who offered him a percentage of $45 million for helping move it out of Nigeria. Bill cut communications with the solicitors, as many potential victims do, when they requested some up-front payment. He forwarded all e-mail correspondence to the U.S. Secret Service, and figured that would be the end of it.

But on April 9, Bill — who requested that his identity be withheld — heard from his suitors anew. A writer identifying himself as Larry Peters was eager to meet Bill’s “long overdue contract payment.”

“I crave your indulgence not to treat it as one of those ‘HOAX’ letters you do receive,” Peters wrote.

And the good-will proof?

“The welcome relief is that you are NOT to pay a cent UPFRONT. Please be informed that your outstanding payment will be paid through ONLINE BANKING which will be given to you on your response to this e-mail.”

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And I just got the second of these emails in the last week the other day. The moral of the story: never trust anyone who writes email and puts things in all-caps or “quotes”, I guess.