Remember Hydrox Cookies? Well, they’re ba-a-a-ck.
On Wednesday (9/23) Ellia Kassoff of Leaf Brands was interviewed on WNYC on how he obtained the Hydrox trademark so he could relaunch Hydrox Cookies.
Hydrox was trademarked by the Sunshine Company that first made Hydrox Cookies over a hundred years ago. Kassoff discovered that Kelloggs owns the trademark and did something private investigators who specialize in IP do all the time: he called the company and spoke to a customer service rep, who told him Hydrox Cookies had been discontinued and there were no plans to bring the product (or its trademark) back into commerce. Kassoff wrote to the USPTO and the mark was declared abandoned.
Kassoff’s company, Leaf Brands, now owns the mark. Kassoff will be going head-to-head with Oreo Cookies. That will be quite a feat. Worldwide one in 20 cookies sold is an Oreo. Oreo Cookies got a big write up in this week’s New York Magazine (See: “Treats: The Oreo Boom”). Oreo sales are up 60 percent over the past decade and exceed $2.5 billion. Hydrox’s marketing pitch will center on its not using corn syrup.