Car-Freshener (Julius Samann) go after Sun Cedar @ShineCedar

Adafruit 1579

A long time ago, we were sent a letter from a lawyer stating we could not have an image of a Christmas Tree blinking project where we said “we do not sell these and will not” so we have a special place in our hearts for anyone told they can’t (or can) use a tree (https://blog.adafruit.com/2009/12/17/happy-holidays-adafruit-receives-a-letter-from-lawyers-representing-velleman/).

Sun Cedar (http://www.sun-cedar.com/) is a non-profit green manufacturing organization that hires the homeless and ex-offenders. The Kansas not for profit makes cedar wood ornaments. It has been sued by the Car Freshner people (who make tree-shaped cellulose car fresheners) because Sun’s cedar wood ornaments are cedar tree shaped.

CAR-FRESHNER has a trademark section on their site:

“Please don’t misuse our trademarks. Not on clothes, not in your ads and certainly not in your burgeoning air freshener business. … There’s another reason we don’t tolerate intellectual property theft. We have over twenty registered trademarks (as well as many unregistered ones), and in order to keep them, the law requires that we take action when someone is using them without permission. So, whether you’re calling your new car-seat cushion-fluffing business “Car-Freshner”, or you’re using our Tree in your pet store ads, don’t be surprised if you get a letter (or more) from our legal team.”

On the site it says “The Tree design, CAR-FRESHNER, and LITTLE TREES are trademarks. © Julius Sämann Ltd.”

Sun Cedar’s lawyer (coincidentally, Adafruit lawyer too), filed this Answer:
“The Answer We Filed On Behalf of Sun Cedar in Car-Freshner v Sun Cedar”.
http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2016/08/the-answer-we-filed-on-behalf-of-sun-cedar-in-car-freshner-v-sun-cedar.html

Interesting case, we’ll see what happens.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Happy New Year 2025
Happy New Year from Adafruit!

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Open Hardware is In, New CircuitPython and Pi 5 16GB, and much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Same-day delivery, not for convenience, but customer loyalty

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — Level Conversion Hack

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.