how does one pronounce an upper case /S/ differently than a lower
> case /s/ in order to avoid violating any trademarks?
"I'm gonna fry up some spam and make a sandwich." I don't think trademark confusion is likely to arise.
"Dammit, my inbox is full of spam again!" Nor here, unless the speaker is sitting at a desk in a Hormel meat-packing plant.
Protecting trademarks is about avoiding confusion. It's ok to sell Saturn cars, even if there's a store that sells planets next door. It's ok to call the products made from coal and Colombian vegetation "coke".
Besides, Hormel is bowing to the inevitable. There's no way to stop the world from calling the email byproduct "spam", all they can do is make sure people know if it's a meat byproduct, it only comes from them.