ARTICLE · 20 JULY 2018

Sticky Rebranding And Fluid Marks

Stites & Harbison PLLC

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I have fond memories¹ of drowning my pancakes in all the flavored syrups on the table rack at IHOP. But, on June 4, the International House of Pancakes announced that though it had been IHOP for 60 years...

United StatesIntellectual Property

Alexandra MacKay

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I have fond memories¹ of drowning my pancakes in all the flavored syrups on the table rack at IHOP. But, on June 4, the International House of Pancakes announced that though it had been IHOP for 60 years, it would be "flippin" its name to "IHOb" in a week:

This was enough to cause some IHOP patrons to flip out:

IHOP's Twitter account had fun teasing the public, but remained serious about the trademark issues:

Note the change from ® to "sm" as the "p" changes to "B" above.

A week after the initial announcement, IHOP revealed that the "B" stood for "burgers."

IHOP filed an application seeking to register (PIC D) for use with restaurant services three days later (claiming use and submitting this image as a specimen):

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