Chicago chain faces backlash over trademark
HONOLULU — A Chicago-based chain that trademarked “Aloha Poke” faces backlash with calls for a boycott after sending cease-and-desist letters to businesses with similar names, including the Aloha Poke Shop in Honolulu.
The letters sent on behalf of Aloha Poke Co. demanded restaurants to stop using “Aloha” and “Aloha Poke,” citing the similarities and the likelihood of confusion.
The downtown Honolulu poke restaurant received a letter in January, said owner Jeff Sampson.
“I ignored it. Sure enough, they reached out to too many people that it blew up in their face,” Sampson said. “I’m just offended by the fact that you can trademark a name like that and a language. We live aloha. They don’t even know what it means.”
Under threat of lawsuit, two poke restaurants already changed their names, one in Bellingham, Wash., and the other in Anchorage, Alaska. The Alaska poke restaurant operated by Native Hawaiians rebranded to Lei’s Poke Stop.
“We use the word ‘aloha’ in our business not to profit from it, but as an identifier in the community,” said owner Tasha Kahele. “The aloha spirit is very unique to our culture. It’s a way of living for us.”
In statement Monday, Chicago Aloha Poke Co. CEO Chris Birkinshaw said the company holds two trademarks in connection with the restaurant business, but it has not attempted to own the word or tell Hawaiian Natives they can’t use them.
Ex-soldier gets 15 years in exploitation case
HONOLULU — A former U.S. soldier who was stationed in Hawaii was sentenced to 15 years in prison for soliciting sexually explicit photographs from a British girl and using them to blackmail her, federal prosecutors said.
Christopher Ernest Fox was sentenced Monday in federal court in Honolulu after pleading guilty in April to producing child pornography.
The 21-year-old former military police officer, who was discharged from the Army in December, began corresponding online with the girl in August 2016, knowing she was a minor, prosecutors said.
He persuaded the girl, who was 12 at the time, to send him explicit photographs of herself. He requested more photos and threatened to distribute the pictures he had if she did not comply.
When the girl refused to send more pictures, he posted the nude photos of her under a fake social media account. The girl and her parents reported him to police in England after the photos began circulating at her school.
Fox was ordered to pay $10,000 restitution and submit to 10 years of restrictive court supervision after his prison term. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.