Gourmet magazine is (kinda sorta) back!

The NY Times is reporting that Gourmet is being resurrected as a newsletter. Apparently, Sam Dean, who is a food writer, happened to be browsing the trademark registry ("as one does") and found that Conde Nast had failed to renew the Gourmet trademark. So he and a group of associates claimed it and are launching their new endeavor tomorrow. It will be in the form of a newsletter that will include one recipe and one feature per week. From the Times article:

“It’s for people who really want to spend an afternoon in the kitchen and make something really delicious,” said Amiel Stanek, a former editor at Bon Appétit who is a founder. “Not people who are looking to minimize the amount of time they’re spending in the kitchen or find a faster, easier, happier way to get dinner on the table.”

They were even able to get Ruth Reichl's blessing, although she also warned them that they were absolutely going to get sued. Subscriptions start at $7/month. I'm tempted to sign up and see where this goes.
The new site is at gourmetmagazine.net

Thanks for the heads up, Mike. I have subscribed.

Trademark is very complicated at times, but can also be very cut and dried. It's in the name, it's a mark used in trading, and if you don't "trade" based it, you lose it. My favorite example of this was where a guy contacted the owner of the trademark for Brim coffee. He asked if they had any coffee or merchandise to sell. The company helpfully replied that they did not sell anything with "Brim" on it. Slam dunk, refile for the trademark and it's yours.

Similar thing happens with sports teams, if they change the name or mascot, such as the Indians becoming the Guardians, the team actually has to keep selling at least a token with the old trademarks. Otherwise anyone could come along, register the un-used trademarks, and start cranking out merchandise by the ton.