I saw this through an urban daddy posting yesterday that says it comes from the people at Charlie Trotter and Pacific Catch. I have no problem with people trying to sell gua bao, but if you're going to enter the market, be ORIGINAL. These people straight took the name of my #1 item and set-up shop with it. I have used the mark in commerce and shown the intent to trademark it. If anyone knows a good IP attorney, let me find out! BUT, I would prefer not to sue and just have these people stop using my name. Really, can you just name it Not-So Express Panda or some shit?
If you google chairman bao, you see that the first hit is about baohaus. Obviously, if you are rolling out a food truck, you have googled your name and seen that this name is being used. Nothing has pissed me off about the restaurant industry more than this to date. Yelpers pale in comparison and you know I hate them. I worked my ass off, opened this place with $300 left in my pocket, I support my whole family with Baohaus and then this joker with deeper pockets opens this piece of shit that not only steals my name, my concept, half my menu, but also has the gall to shark bite Shepard Fairey's style. Its borderline offensive too that the idiot combined Japanese style nuclear/sun rays with a Chinese name and a Taiwanese food. I did broccoli rabe and chinese sausage months ago, now this dude is doin it.
If I ever am inspired by another restaurant/food, I ALWAYS put it on the blog just like when I went to Taiwan. I pay my respect and when I re-create I always have an original touch. For instance, I like Taiwanese Rice Balls, but mine will have the extra touch of being brushed and fried. Its not hard to do something original, it just takes integrity and a little extra work. Its really unfair to artists (which cooks are) that there are people who want to capitalize off someone else's work.
Look, everyone and their mothers knows, David Chang popularized the pork bun. NO FUCKING DOUBT. But, I'm Taiwanese. Our people have been making these things for 50 some odd years. No one in NY outside of Queens wrote or knew about it so I wanted to do something for the community and my family. I came up with an original idea. A Taiwanese street vendor style short menu featuring environmentally sustainable (all-natural meat) gua bao buoyed by an art, design, and music element. Taking the streetwear style I'd been working in to present Taiwanese street food alongside golden era hip hop. A simple yet original idea. To take my shit, pair it with another streetwear designer/artist, and sell the same shit is just bullshit. Especially if you're all Charlie Trotter already. The fuck you need this for? You already got your paper, FEED THE FUCKING STREETS SOMETHING ORIGINAL.
Additionally, there is this Josh Tang kid involved. http://www.linkedin.com/in/joshtang
The founder of Mobi Munch, Inc. that is involved with this venture. He is trying to commodify food trucks and spread them out with no concern for environment (they don't use all natural), no concern for artistic integrity, and obviously no concern for history because they are selling gua bao and explain it all wrong. He also was involved with wire image before and basically he's an ivory tower douche bag trying to capitalize and commodify the street food movement. Josh Tang, in the words of dave chappelle FUCK YO COUCH.
UPDATE: Even the SF Weekly asks if the Chairman Bao Truck is even worth fighting for... "But from an authenticity viewpoint, we don't think Baohaus, the New York eatery calling for a Chairman Bao boycott, has to worry about competition in anything other than name." http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/05/chairman_bao_not_bad_but_is_it.php
Yes, thank you, we da best.
UPDATE: Charlie Trotter not involved. Makes me feel better. My mom got all his books. Big fan of the hit record "aint gon hurt no foie gras" as well. But, this just means mobi truck has absolutely no credibility but I'm also curious how Trotter and Pacific Catch got implicated???? Urban Daddy???
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Send them a cease and desist letter stating that you have used the mark in commerce and shown the intent to trademark it. I believe that there is significant confusion of the source and a dilution of your brand especially if the food sucks or is not as good as yours, which obviously will be the case.
ReplyDeleteThey could make a "Limited Area Exception" argumet under Thrifty Cars which "confers upon a junior user, such as [the dickwads here] the right to continued use of an otherwise infringing mark in a remote geographical area if that use was established prior to the other party's federal registration. . .However, the junior user must have used the mark continuously in that location and initially in good faith without notice of an infringing mark."
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Trotter means pig foot but that is way too good for that ass.
ReplyDeleteWow I just Googled "Chairman Bao" and you came up 5th after 4 about the truck. I don't know why you are sweating it, you just sound like a petty ass hole. I don't really care about you or them but you brought the Shepard Fairey comparison into it. Dude, James Jean is every bit the artist that Shepard is and then some. Shepard is great but his whole style is "Shark Bit" from so many others. When ever I see that truck I'll buy a bun that is locally made by a local chef and I'll think of you, ass hole.
ReplyDeleteEddie, these fools are in Cali. East coast - west coast beef never ends well... even if the beef is free range grass fed organic. Make peace, bro.
ReplyDeleteEddie,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain, let me know what I can do.
Simpson Wong
Ummm how you can NOT see the obvious COPYING of Shepard Fairey's style on the Chairman truck???? I'm certainly not a SF fan but he popularised his own 'copied' style so this James Jean dude is just a wash up with absolutely NO ORIGINALITY whatsoever. Copying from a guy who copied other styles? Hmm yeh, nice career.
ReplyDeleteIf you had actually been to Baohaus in NYC or read Eddie's blog post properly then you'd get the argument. But you don't, so go eat those wacksauce buns out in LA. Solo.
If you are going to call someone an a$$hole, have the guts to stand behind your comments and post your name.
ReplyDeleteIt is a big deal and riding the coat tails of a trademark is subject to damages and cessation of the mark by the junior user. Worrying about a name and the connotations and quality associated with that name is what Trademark Law is about. You have a right to stop people from free association with an older, stronger, better brand that someone else created through their hard work and creativity.
Whatever credibility you have, or rather had you lost by the sheer fact that you come off as an immature raging asshole who apparently can't even read. SF Weekly didn't say Baohaus was better you halfwit. They simply are stating that the food concepts are entirely different and the only similarities lie in the name of the truck and a item on your menu.
ReplyDeleteHey Eddie, it's Rebecca at the Voice -- I've got a letter from Trotter that I'd like to send you denying all involvement w/the truck. Could you send me your e-mail add and I'll send you the letter?
ReplyDeletethis is retarded - if you are better people will come
ReplyDeleteYou need to chill with the insults. It makes you look hypocritical, especially when coupled with the grammatical raping of the English language in your first sentence.
ReplyDeleteYou also fail to understand in what context authenticity is being used. When someone markets themselves as selling authentic Asian buns, and the biggest compliment a food reviewer can give them is "they're not authentic," then you know something isn't right with the food.
Also, if you're too dumb to read Bao truck's menu, and realize that half the shit on there consists of the same food items with the same ingredients that Baohaus has had, you probably shouldn't be calling others halfwit.
If the menus are that similar and the truck is described as only resembling Baohaus in name, that is a diss to the truck's food.
Sad you're calling other people names when it's you who fails at basic logic and reading comprehension.
_________________________
Re: Anonymous said...
Whatever credibility you have, or rather had you lost by the sheer fact that you come off as an immature raging asshole who apparently can't even read. SF Weekly didn't say Baohaus was better you halfwit. They simply are stating that the food concepts are entirely different and the only similarities lie in the name of the truck and a item on your menu.
With all the troubles business owners have to concern themselves with, who has the right to use an a pun that's as old as the hills seems like it would be low on the priority list.
ReplyDeleteHell if gay bars started fighting about who came up with the idea of calling themselves Moby Dicks or the White Swallow first then we'd never have had a Stonewall for all the infighting.
Let it go, this truck obviously has problems that extend beyond its lack of originality.
james jean did that truck? doesn't look like his style but regardless, homie is Taiwanese-American too.
ReplyDeleteare you kidding? If you have trademarked or copyrighted chairman bao then you have nothing to worry about. If not then he was as much legal and moral right to use that expression as you do. Long before either of you came along that expression has been used as has a million and one other plays on Chairman Mao. without Chairman Mao neither of you would be able to have this oh so clever play on words. As for the food being similar? seriously two place doing dim sum having the same things. OMG, where the heck have you been.
ReplyDeleteAlso as anyone know Shepard Fairey has gotten "inspiration" as he calls it and totally ripped off the style of other artist as they see it for years.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Shepard Fairey is going to send them a letter saying they have to repaint the truck? Doubt it because I think he is a bigger man than you.
bitches will be bitches
ReplyDeleteWell, what goes around comes around. You copied someone's photo without credit on your blog post here:
ReplyDeletehttp://thepopchef.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-makes-food-taiwanese.html
In your post, you say that "The photo above is a classic taiwanese kid reaction to taiwanese food". The kid in question is Malaysian and he's in Shanghai, NOT Taiwan. The original post is here:
http://hungerhunger.blogspot.com/search/label/Travel%3A%20China%3A%20Shanghai%202006
You didn't ask permission, make any correction or give credit even after the owner said it was hers.
first of all numnuts, the two have NOTHING to do with each other. Second, that post was for shits and giggles. I FULLY admit, i wrote the caption wrong, but the point wasn't the kid's race, I was saying its like any other taiwanese kid reaction to stinky foods. whether you agree with that or not, i dont care.
ReplyDeleteI also went out of my way to contact the kid's mom, who was really nice and wrote me this:
hi edwyn,
it's ok, it's not whether he's taiwanese or not (we are all chinese). just that would appreciate your indicating where you took the photo from. ah i see that's how you got the photo bc somebody wrote to me earlier about the same photo being used in an asian food grocers site so i'm a little upset people are using my photo to make money n not asking my permission first. but it's okay, you are nice about it n you now have my permission to use it.
cheers,
terri
she has a great blog by the way so check it out!
ReplyDeleteFucking whiner.
ReplyDeleteWow, bro, I would just delete the anonymous posts that are out of line. It sounds like the Mobi Munch guys posting a gazillion times anonymously or under different names.
ReplyDeleteThey are clearly stealing from you. It's basically as if a food truck called itself "Big Mac" and was selling hamburgers. No way in hell that would be okay, even if McDonald's does taste like crap.
I'm just a Baohaus fan that has had your buns a couple of times. I have to admit; I have no skin in this, but I am pissed off as hell that they would do this.
Just for your rant alone, I will try out Chairman Bao...
ReplyDeleteIf you cant compete with them just because of a name, pack it up and leave.
The two things were on a similar vein so that's why I mentioned it. Guess call it sticking up for people. But that's a non issue - you cleared it up with the blogger and she gave you permission. Thanks for clearing that up.
ReplyDeleteNice shout out for her, too. She does have a great blog. It sucks when people are copying you and good luck in fighting this battle.
Numnuts. LOL. Nice.
I feel you. But as aggravating as it is finding people copying your work/stealing ideas/etc, the rant was a little overkill and I'm sure you were just writing it in the heat of the moment.
ReplyDelete'Chairman Bao' and 'Baohaus' are playing off of other words. Where's the line of copying/originality? Artwork is all about taking and inspiring. But what comes out on top is quality and viewership and popularity, and I think that is what you wish you had.
Anyway, Google the Obama Logo and Pepsi's new logo and what do we see? A big corporation's logo suspiciously similar to the campaign of our President that came out around the same time. Whatever, no one did anything about it and whenever someone saw the Obama campaign logo, perhaps they thought about drinking a Pepso, and when they saw a can of Pepsi maybe they thought about Obama. Use other people who are copying you to your advantage. If they google the truck, they may come across your site instead.
Two great TED Talks about how copyright laws choke creativity:
ReplyDeleteJohanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion's free culture
and
Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity
Who cares about any of this? The truck is in California for chrissakes?
ReplyDeleteEddie, I'm not sure that IP litigation is compatible with your oh-so-meticulously cultivated f*ck-the-world pose. I mean, the least you could do is threaten the proprietors of this truck with some physical violence, amiright?
in the U.S. your rights are based on first to use, not first to file.
ReplyDeleteSend them a cease and desist letter as long as you are confident you have been using the mark before they started.
does that mean Bauhaus can sue you too? Also, do you even serve the same population that patronizes the chairman bao truck? one thing is certain, no one mentions baohaus in san francisco, unless they visit new york so obviously the chairman bao truck is drawing its own audience unrelated to baohaus. by the way, Eddie, you seem to have a lot of bad press even in your hometown new york as someone who mouths off without thinking. Maybe you just like the attention, and this is just a way for you to finally get some publicity on the west coast... in which case, good strategy, but try not to play so innocent.
ReplyDeleteCan you please google James Jean before you compare him to Shephard Fairey and talk about shit that you know nothing about?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, just because Shephard (who's a fine artist in his own right) is a prevalent part of pop culture DOES NOT mean that every contemporary artist is a copy of him. And if you can't see that, then well, you obviously are out of your wheelhouse.
Your use of "Chinkstronaut" Footprints in the Interweb as a tagline is far more offensive to me than the truck's use of Japanese graphics and Chinese food. Just a different generation, I guess. Oh, and I've had their food and it's not any better than what I can grab in Chinatown a few minutes away for far less money, so don't get your panties in a bunch.
ReplyDeleteChairman Bao is SF rocks and and your bao sucks!!!! Don't be a hater.
ReplyDeleteYou're 3000 miles from these dudes, why are you sweating it? Don't get mad that you both had similar ideas. Don't get mad they have better ingredients to cook with. Don't get mad they have better SEO/SEM. Don't get mad that they are more successful, with 4 trucks and an entire community of followers. Chairman dosn't rely on "golden-age-hip-hop" or whatever the fuck that is, to hype themselves out. They serve top notch bao and have people trekking around the bay area to eat their food. Check your hate, prepare better food and stop trying to claim ownership of, in your own words, something that your "culture has been putting out for 50 years". Quit being a bitch, bro.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAn fascinating discussion is value comment. I think that it is best to write extra on this matter, it won’t be a taboo topic however generally people are not enough to talk on such topics. To the next. Cheers קייטרינג לאירוע קטן
ReplyDeleteI support my whole family with Baohaus and then this joker with deeper pockets. Food Truck Catering
ReplyDeleteThis was really an interesting topic and I kinda agree with what you have mentioned here! Thai Food Recipes
ReplyDeleteI ate from the Chairman Bao truck in SF for the Super Hero Festival.
ReplyDeleteBest Bao I ever had.
I wish they were in the DC area.
So, you want compete with them using trucks?
Puns are seldom copyrightable.
I doubt they are hurting your business or brand, unless you are in SF.
I had the Chairman Truck last night. Had 3 of the meat baos and they were the bomb! So delicious! I wish they had a brick and mortar shop and were open late.
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