Spam Cube, Inc was a

high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

based in the midtown area of New York City. The company invented and manufactured the Spam Cube, a

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is cons ...

(Security As A Service) network security hardware device for consumers that blocked

spam e-mail Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, is unsolicited messages sent in bulk by email (spamming). The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoida ...

computer viruses A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...

and

phishing Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...

. The company invented a SaaS delivery platform technology that enables any home networking

embedded device An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' as ...

such as a Broadband cable modem,

DSL modem A digital subscriber line (DSL) modem is a device used to connect a computer or router to a telephone line which provides the digital subscriber line (DSL) service for connection to the Internet, which is often called ''DSL broadband''. The m ...

Wireless router A wireless router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the manufacturer and mode ...

Femtocell In telecommunications, a femtocell is a small, low-power cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. A broader term which is more widespread in the industry is '' small cell'', with ''femtocell'' as a subset. It ...

to offer network Security As A Service technology that blocks spam e-mail, computer viruses and phishing. The Spam Cube SaaS platform gave the consumer the choice to select spam e-mail, computer viruses, and phishing blocking technology that was powered by either

McAfee McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...

or Symantec managed enterprise Security As A Service technology.

Trademark Issues

In May 2006, the company ran into a costly legal battle with

Hormel Foods Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally focused on the packaging and selling of ham, sausage and other pork, ...

over its trademark "Spam Cube". Hormel Foods claimed that the company's "Spam Cube" brand name was causing confusion amongst consumers and that consumers were not able to tell the difference between the Spam Cube, a cube-shaped home network security device, and Hormel's cube-shaped SPAM canned meat product. In February 2008, the company won the legal battle against Hormel Foods in the United States. The

SPAM Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

trademark dispute was widely publicized since the dispute would have forced the company into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

had

won.

Competitors

Three years after Spam Cube released its technology,

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...

teamed up with

Trend Micro is an American-Japanese multinational cyber security software company with global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and Irving, Texas, United State.Other regional headquarters and R&D centers are located around East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and ...

to manufacture the

Linksys Linksys is an American brand of data networking hardware products mainly sold to home users and small businesses. It was founded in 1988 by the couple Victor and Janie Tsao, both Taiwanese immigrants to the United States. Linksys products incl ...

Home Network Defender.

and Trend Micro competed directly with Spam Cube for market share in the

SaaS market.

References

{{reflist

External links

Spam Cube, Inc , Home PagePicture of Spam Cube article on the front page of the March 30 edition of the New York TimesNY1 interview with David J. Soares, CBDO of Spam CubeABC News interview with Joseph P. Marino, CEO of Spam CubeSpam Cube's LinkedIn Company Profile
Companies based in New York City Networking companies of the United States Companies established in 2003 Privately held companies based in New York (state)

Trademark Issues

Competitors

See also

References

External links