Moo-ving on with name
‘‘We (myself and the board) agonised over it, because we understand they are small business owners making a living for their family,’’ he said.
‘‘But at the end of the day they are the Waikato Rugby Union’s trademarks and we have to protect them. These trademarks are synonymous with the Waikato Rugby Union.’’
Since 1954, the Waikato rugby team’s mascot has been Mooloo the cow and supporters have been referred to as Mooloo Men. The word Mooloo has been trademarked since 1995 and the red, yellow and black colours have been worn by the provincial rugby team since 1928 and have also been trademarked since 1995.
Any not-for-profit or community organisations who do not make money from use of the trademarks are the exception, Foote said.
‘‘This is in no way a one-off situation and the Hodges have not been singled out.’’
Instead of appealing the decision and being bitter, the Hodges have found a way to get the community involved with their re-brand.
They are running a competition on Facebook.
And since their plight became public they have received hundreds of name suggestions.
‘‘Thank you to everyone for the feedback and support.
‘‘We want to move on and leave this behind us. It was an honest mistake and I just want to cut meat and work to make a living to feed my kids.’’
‘‘It never crossed our minds when we were coming up with the name.’’