Yesterday, Unilever published a one-liner on its web site: “Unilever is pleased to announce that the litigation with Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board has been resolved.” There’s a longer story at the Jerusalem Post, but the information in Unilever’s statement is all we know for sure. And there’s nothing about the settlement of the litigation at B&J site.
But there is a whiny, “We’re self-absorbed Vermont leftists who are soooo pissed off at Unilever that we’re ready to explode, and please don’t question our commitment to the progressive cause” statement on B&J’s “Where We Do Business” page:
“Unilever has sold trademark rights to the Hebrew and Arabic language versions of the Ben & Jerry’s name to Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd. No English language trademark of the Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. has been transferred to Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd. Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd. is a completely separate and distinct entity from Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. Ben & Jerry’s has no ownership of or economic interest in Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd.”
Thanks for the clarification, guys. A simple "We are not connected with those Jews (or Snyder's of Berlin)" would have sufficed.
Interestingly, that page still shows and lists Israel as one of the places where they do business:
Does this mean that B&J is planning to try to sell English-labeled ice cream in Israel? I’m sure they’d love to give a license to someone in Ramallah, although doing business in the areas controlled by the corrupt PA might entail some looking the other way when it comes to B&J’s morals. But my understanding from Unilever’s memorandum filed recently in the B&J litigation is that the commercial decisions regarding B&J’s ice cream, like where to sell, are in the hands of Unilever. Moreover, depending on what B&J might try to sell and where, there are potential issues of infringement of what are now Blue & White’s marks.
I’ll keep buying Avi Zinger’s ice cream. But when in the USA, I’ll buy from a manufacturer other than Ben & Jerry’s.