This post is a continuation of a prior one, with key lessons for owners of an established and emerging food, beverage, and restaurant brand – all culled from recent cases. Click here for Part One.
Lesson Three: Consider even “Unrelated” Products when Choosing Your Food, Beverage, and Restaurant Brand and Enforcing Your Rights
Food and beverage companies may be precluded from obtaining registration due to third parties’ brand use for seemingly unrelated goods, and vice versa. » Read More
So many food and beverage brand decisions have been making their way through the Trademark Office and the courts recently, I thought it would be a good idea to blog about some of them, and more importantly, about four key branding lessons they teach to emerging and established food and beverage companies, as well as restaurants. » Read More
As part of any trademark application, the applicant must submit a drawing of the mark and a specimen showing use of the mark in commerce in connection with the underlying goods and services identified in the application. » Read More
When a restaurant name is licensed, how does the owner properly compute a trademark royalty? Should a higher royalty be set for a famous mark? These issues were decided recently by the New York Supreme Court in Ganzi, Gary C. et al. » Read More
The maker of Splenda sweetener, Heartland Consumer Products, LLC, filed suit in 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and trademark dilution against DineEquity which owns and operates Applebee’s and IHOP restaurants. » Read More
Last week, my partners, Danielle DeFilippis and Deanna Koestel, and I had the pleasure of attending The New Jersey Food & Beverage Summit hosted by NJBIZ. Our firm sponsored the event. We enjoyed a series of informative panel discussions, as reported in our last post, as well as the exhibits put on by a wide range of food manufacturers, vendors, and students of food science. » Read More
The Norris McLaughlin Food & Beverage Law Group has been busy with industry events this fall. We recently attended The World of Latino Cuisine Food Products and Beverage Trade Show at the Meadowlands Expo Center. The event included educational sessions and culinary demonstrations. » Read More
Last week, my partner, Jeanne Hamburg, argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of Real Foods Pty. Ltd. (“Real Foods”), the trademark owner of the marks RICE THINS and CORN THINS, a brand of all-natural and diet-friendly popped corn cakes and rice cakes. » Read More
Attorney Danielle DeFilippis attended the Mazars Executive Food & Beverage Boot Camp last week, which featured morning keynote speaker Brad Finkel, President of Hoboken Farms. Finkel shared his journey as an “opportunist,” having grown a business from an idea, to an opportunity, to a success. » Read More
In a recent opinion, Sazerac Brands, LLC v. Peristyle, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision finding in favor of a Kentucky bourbon distillery that their use of “the Former Old Taylor Distillery” or “Old Taylor” was classic fair use of Sazerac’s trademarks OLD TAYLOR and COLONEL E.H. » Read More
