Pancakes or Prayer?
The International House of Pancakes has sued Kansas City based International House of Prayer over use of the acronym "IHOP":
IHOP (pancake), based in Glendale, Calif., has sued IHOP (prayer), based in Kansas City, for trademark dilution and infringement. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, essentially said there was room for only one IHOP and that would be the restaurant chain that has been using the initials since 1973.
The religious group drawing thousands from around the world to south Kansas City to prepare for “end times” was started just 10 years ago.
And I was amused at this:
Thus the question, why sue now? The church mission started calling itself IHOP a decade ago.
“They’ve expanded — and now some of the branches are serving food,” [IHOPancake spokesman Patrick] Lenow said.
IHOP (the religious one) is based very near where I preach in Kansas City, and their future headquarters is set to be constructed pretty much across the highway from our building.
I don't know much about the IHOPrayer, but apparently they're, well, a little kooky:
The IHOP (prayer) on Red Bridge Road operates 24/7/365, sending a never-ending digital signal of prayers to Jerusalem, where it streams live on God TV for broadcast all over the world....
IHOP (prayer) was started by a man named Mike Bickle, who by his own admission grew up in a Waldo bar and claims to have traveled to heaven twice.
A friend of mine visited an IHOPrayer service with a young female he was interested in at the time. I asked him at the time if they gave little bottles of maple syrup to visitors. Apparently they don't.
