Comments on: Baja Fresh Really is Trying to Rip off Kogi!

By: sushiburger

sushiburger — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:18:29 +0000

I have definitely seen people use boolkogi before. The thing is, even with that, I’ve seen it spelled different ways… Yes, there is probably a phonetically correct way to spell it, but if we were going off of that, anyone who’s anyone should try to trademark “kimchi”, because that’s definitely not how it’s supposed to be pronounced. So, then people should start trademarking their spelling of bulkogi/boolkogi/boolgogi/bulgogi.. hey… you don’t have a single one that’s common, right? So lets just trademark all of them and sue the shit out of anyone that uses any of the terms… we can make a killing! This is just f’n retarded.

The term “gogi” or “kogi” IS a common term on Korean menus. I’m pretty sure 80% – 90% of the restaurants on 32nd (k-town) will have something on the menu with that term in it. Even if all were using the “g” instead of the “k”, there isn’t a single menu item that uses the term “gogi” or “kogi” alone. It’s always combined w/ some other term. “bool” being an example, or “dalk/dahk/dak” being another one. maybe that’s why its not as noticeable.

In any case, if Kogi can trademark the term “kogi”, I would be extremely surprised at how ignorant and retarded these laws are.

By: steveroller

steveroller — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:28:00 +0000

Ugh, this site is where I come when I’m trying to AVOID doing law. Some interesting background on trademark disputes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser

By: Zach Brooks

Zach Brooks — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:14:40 +0000

@panax – Yeah, but the difference is this… if a company called themselves Zushi they could trademark that couldn’t they. I think they could argue that Kogi is the equivalent to that, couldn’t they?

The most common American spelling of Korean meat is bulgogi, not bulkogi. And the term kogi is not a commonly used term on Korean menus (whereas the term “sushi” would have been on a lot of Japanese menus in the early 80s.)

By: panax

panax — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:39:50 +0000

The Korean word for pickled vegetables is commonly romanized as “kimchi” but it technically should be romanized as “gimchi”. As mentioned earlier, the common Korean last name “Kim” (and “Lee” and “Park”) are also not romanized according to the current standard. Either way, it is quite clear that “Kogi” is referring to the Korean word for meat. And according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_foreign_equivalents , foreign words cannot be trademarked, besides a few exceptions (kogi/gogi would not be one of them).

This is simply the advent of a new food word into the mainstream American consciousness. Imagine if blogs were around when sushi was first introduced to the US. The idea of the word “sushi” being trademarked, or another company ripping off another by using the word “sushi” sounds quite ridiculous to us now, but that is exactly what is happening here.

By: Combo Over Rice Champion

Combo Over Rice Champion — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:15:57 +0000

Who cares? The more Korean meat tacos, the better.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:17:16 +0000

Who cares how they say it?
Neither offering of Kogi/Gogi tacos are coming to New York, so we don’t have to worry about pronouncing it correctly.
Personally, I will be calling them Yogi taco from this point on…screw Cali…

By: mkim1206

mkim1206 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:42:37 +0000

I am Korean and no Korean ever says Kogi. It’s gogi…but then my last name is Kim but no Koreans in Korea pronounce it ‘Kim. It’s actually ‘Gim’.