# I ate all the Frusen Glädje!'
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 26, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943 "2010-11-26T02:15:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/1 "2010-11-26T02:15:43Z")
According to [_The Christian Science Monitor_](http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0928/p23s2.html):
> [@](#):
>
> Eight years later, a mystery began. A Kraft spokeswoman states that Kraft sold its Frusen Gldj license to Unilever Corp. in 1993.
>
> A spokesman for Unilever, however, claims that Frusen Gldj was never part of the deal. As of today, Frusen Gldj ice cream has apparently melted into the paperwork.
If one company says it sold the trademark and no longer owns it, and the company that ostensibly bought it says it doesn’t own it, does that mean that the name has been abandoned? If so, could anyone claim it and start using it?
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/2 "2010-11-26T04:22:08Z")
Assuming all the “ifs” are true, then yes. A trademark is lost when it is abandoned.
But that assumption is something that a company’s lawyers can fight in court, by challenging whether it really has been abandoned in the legal sense.
So the theoretical answer is yes, but the specific answer is, “whatever a court determines if it challenged.”
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/3 "2010-11-26T04:32:24Z")
If a trademark has not been used for a specific amount of time (and I think it’s 5 years, but could be wrong), it’s considered abandoned. You can use it, but can’t trademark it yourself. It’s considered public domain.
If no one thinks they own a trademark, then no one will defend it if anyone else infringes on it. So it will be effectively abandoned. But someone else still can’t trademark it.
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### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/4 "2010-11-27T00:00:44Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> If a trademark has not been used for a specific amount of time (and I think it’s 5 years, but could be wrong), it’s considered abandoned. You can use it, but can’t trademark it yourself. It’s considered public domain.
It’s true that a trademark can be abandoned and is considered public, but I’m pretty sure it is not true that in cannot be re-registered. You’d have to be using the trademark exclusively, to re-register. I don’t have a specific cite, but I do know that Marvel Comics claims a trademark on “Captain Marvel” and indicates it’s registered with the circled R symbol. Fawcett used this trademark from the 40s to the 50s, and DC Comics now own that character. I assume the lawyers at Times-Warner (the parent company) would know if Marvel could not validly claim this trademark.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/5 "2010-11-27T00:07:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> …could anyone claim it and start using it?
Please, please let it die the death it deserves! 🙂
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/6 "2010-11-27T00:25:47Z")
I remember that stupid ad…some dumb blond teling her hsband :'I ate all the Frusen Gladje"-and I’d DO IT AGAIN"!
“Frusen Gladje” was a meaningless name dreamed up by some advertising agency-because it sounded “scandinavian” and sophisticated .
I suspect that as a brand name, it has little value today-like “Edsel” would be for a new car model.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/7 "2010-11-27T00:48:34Z")
_Frusen Glädje_ (no accent over the e) means ‘frozen delight’ in Swedish.
Häagen-Dazs is the made-up, Scandinavian-sounding name.
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### Author:  [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/8 "2010-11-27T01:49:30Z")
Frusen Glädje made the BEST coffee ice cream ever…
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/9 "2010-11-27T09:42:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> _Frusen Glädje_ (no accent over the e) means ‘frozen delight’ in Swedish.
>
> Häagen-Dazs is the made-up, Scandinavian-sounding name.
It can also be translated as “frozen joy”, which sounds slightly iffy to me…
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### Author:  [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/10 "2010-11-27T15:49:59Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> It can also be translated as “frozen joy”, which sounds slightly iffy to me…
Well, **fresh** joy is so difficult to come by — unless you live near the ocean.
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### Author:  [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/11 "2010-11-27T17:50:32Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#):
>
> Frusen Glädje made the BEST coffee ice cream ever…
I came here to say the EXACT same thing!
And the plastic containers were reusable, too!
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-all-the-frusen-gladje/561943/12 "2010-11-27T18:04:44Z")
I’ve been trying in vain to find that commercial. Not a huge effort, but a once-in-a-while stab. Still can’t find it, but at least now I have a better spelling to go on.