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Stealth

	TAYLOR, Texas (UPI) -- Northrop Corp., the giant defense contractor
which makes the B-2 Stealth bomber, is trying to shoot down a tiny
Texas-based business -- Stealth Condoms.
	Los Angeles-based Northrop has taken legal steps to deny John Hughes'
application for a trademark for his kitchen-table business.
	Hughes, 28, who says he's trying ``to put some fun back into condom
buying,'' is selling a red, white and blue condom in a cardboard package
resembling a Stealth bomber.
	But after he applied for a trademark last year, Northrop's attorneys
filed a petition with the trademark office to block the application.
	``If they stop my trademark -- if they can -- we're out of business
automatically,'' said Hughes. ``They know I'm not a big company. If they
make me spend enough money, sooner or later I'm history.''
	The attorney representing Northrop declined to comment without the
company's permission, and Northrop officials were unavailable for
comment.
	The petition filed with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said
Northrop believes it will be damaged by the trademark for Stealth
Condoms because ``its use by applicant (Hughes) is likely to cause
confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.''
	Hughes, who also has a tile-laying business in Central Texas, said
his condoms have a better reputation than Northrop's airplane, which has
been the subject of much debate in Congress.
	``The condoms perform better than the bomber,'' he says. ``Our
package will even fly over 40 feet -- they don't do well in wind, though.
They're totally radar-proof, can fly low and don't require a great
length of runway to land.''
	Hughes said even if the government became confused and spent $865
million on his product instead of buying a Northrop bomber, it might not
be such a bad deal.
	``I could provide an incredible amount of protection for that kind of
money,'' he quipped.