The owners of Third Culture Bakery said that they are “reevaluating” the trademark to their popular mochi muffin after news reports examined the challenges that the trademark has imposed on small businesses that sell the product.
“There have been two-back-to-back articles regarding our trademark that has incited a lot of harassment and false claims,” owners Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu said in a joint statement shared Sunday on Instagram. “It is important to us and the communities we’re in to share the specifics that were not included in the article.”
Third Culture Bakery, which successfully trademarked the name “mochi muffins” in 2018, has received an onslaught of criticism from all corners of the internet since last week after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a number of small businesses have received cease-and-desist letters from Third Culture Bakery for listing the term “mochi muffin” on their menus. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another.)
Among them was San Jose's CA Bakehouse, which was told to immediately stop using the name “mochi muffin” or they would face legal action. It’s unclear what year the incident occurred, but Kevin Lam, the owner of CA Bakehouse, told the Chronicle that he had regretfully changed the name. After the story was published, CA Bakehouse shared a statement on Instagram to thank their customers for the support but to express that they had no intention to injure...
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