991040 Conagra Fights For Monfort Name In S. KoreaOctober 16, 1999Chicago - ConAgra Inc. said its Monfort Inc. beef unit will continue to pursue efforts in South Korea to halt an unrelated company, Monfort Korea Beef Inc., from using the Monfort name in South Korea. Monfort Inc. was considering an appeal to a decision last week by the Korean Industrial Property Office (KIPO), which rejected an effort by Monfort Inc. to cancel Monfort Korea Beef's trademark of the Monfort name in Korea. “Last week KIPO ruled the trademark in question would not be declared canceled for lack of use,” said ConAgra spokesman Scott Deitz. “Monfort is considering appealing the ruling. If we do appeal it, we appeal to the Korean Patent Court.” Monfort Korea Beef Inc. is a Los Angeles-based firm that distributes beef in South Korea. The company's attorney, Jason Frank, said that in 1993 Monfort Korea Beef applied for and received a trademark in South Korea to use the Monfort name there. ConAgra argues the trademark was incorrectly filed and should be canceled. According to Frank, Monfort Inc. had an agreement in the early to mid-1990s to supply beef to Monfort Korea Beef, which then sold it throughout South Korea. That arrangement has been discontinued, he said. ConAgra's Deitz said last week's ruling was not a major setback and the company continues to pursue efforts to halt the South Korean company's use of the Monfort name in that country. “There are proceedings to invalidate the Monfort trademark that are still pending,” said Deitz. South Korea is the fourth largest foreign buyer of U.S. beef, and in 1998 bought about 53,457 tonnes, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. On April 20 the South Korean government suspended Monfort Inc. from participating in its buying tenders pending the outcome of a probe into alleged mislabeling of beef shipments. Deitz said Monfort continues to ship beef into South Korea but not through the tender process.
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