Posts Tagged ‘ IHOP ’

Damn IHOP – Went for Pancakes and They’re Fasting!

September 16th, 2010. By AbiK

How the heck did that happen? I was told it was “IHOP”, and it’s a 24/7 operation, and they’re not serving pancakes. Hell, it gets worse—they’re FASTING!

Oh, my bad. Seems that this IHOP is not that IHOP. And, to be fair, I did not actually go to any IHOP.

Let me explain. First off, this IHOP is actually IHOP-KC—which stands for International House of Prayer – Kansas City. And well, it seems that the other IHOP—the one you all know that serves up pancakes with a portfolio of syrups on each table (and the never empty coffee pot™)—is a bit miffed that the Prayer IHOP is using its well-established acronym. So miffed that they’ve filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the religious organization. They want IHOP-KC to stop using the IHOP acronym.

By the way, while I included the above video from The Onion as it just seemed apropos, IHOP–the pancake IHOP–does operate some 24/7 locations, however, the decision to open 24/7 is left to the franchisees (in case you were wondering).

So I checked out IHOP further—the one with the prayer.

There’s lots of info online about IHOP-KC. Commentary about it ranges from pure devotion to accusations of its being a cult. I don’t care what folks think about it (though it does make me reflect on that Seagram’s Bronfman sister story), it doesn’t serve pancakes. And I’m not sure I’d confuse it with a place that does. Though I can understand the other IHOP’s desire to own their brand and its symbols.

For those of you wondering what IHOP-KC is all about, here are some of their own words about themselves:

The Lord has called us to be a community of believers committed to God, each other, and to establishing a 24/7 house of prayer in Kansas City—a perpetual solemn assembly gathering corporately to fast and pray in the spirit of the tabernacle of David.

[Note, I checked with Guinness World Records for the record for longest prayer session, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: IHOP, IHOP-KC, Trademark, Trademark Infringement
Posted in Emerging Issues, Intellectual Property | No Comments »