‘Hon’ trademarker says she’s sorry. Again

Denise Whiting, through a new lawyer, says she doesn’t claim to own beehive hairdos and cat-eye glasses

By Laura Vozzella (The Baltimore Sun, 1/19/2011)

Cafe Hon owner and “hon” trademarker Denise Whiting wants Baltimore to know she’s sorry.

Not sorry that she trademarked the town’s classic term of endearment. Just sorry that she spoke about it so clumsily that her adopted hometown came to think of her as greedy. And sorry that nobody seemed to be listening a month ago, when she said basically the same thing in a letter to The Baltimore Sun.

The newest apology came Wednesday in the form of a news release.

“I apologize to everyone in Baltimore for misspeaking,” Whiting says in the release. “Many of my fellow citizens are clearly upset and worried that our trademark position means they can’t use the word as they wish. I’m sorry for creating the impression that I can stop people from using the word, and for causing such an outcry here.

“No one can own a word or stop people from saying it or using it, but I know that some things I said to reporters have many people thinking that I do ‘own’ it — or at least think I do. That’s simply not the case. I know that my trademark is limited in scope and I have failed to convey that in recent comments to the media.”

Continue reading “‘Hon’ trademarker says she’s sorry. Again” at The Baltimore Sun.

This entry was posted in 2010s, Baltimorons, Hampden and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.