Chick-fil-A is the second largest chicken restaurant chain in the United States. Its most successful print and television marketing campaign involves a bunch of cows engaging in desperate and hilarious antics in an effort to convert beef lovers into chicken fans. For the past 16 years, Chick-fil-A has been using the tagline EAT MOR CHIKIN [...]
St. Louis Trademark Dispute: Are MANGIA ITALIANO and MANGIA MOBILE Confusingly Similar Trademarks?
I have to thank my girlfriend Karen for bringing this tasty St. Louis trademark dispute to my attention earlier this week. The plaintiff in the case is a restaurant located in the Tower Grove neighborhood of St. Louis by the name of Mangia Italiano. According to various local news reports (see here and here), Mangia [...]
IHOP (Pancakes) v. IHOP (Prayer) – An Unholy Trademark Infringement?
I have to thank my friend Ray for bringing to my attention an interesting trademark dispute involving one of my favorite breakfast joints dating back to when I was a kid living in Paramus, New Jersey. The International House of Pancakes (more commonly known by the acronym “IHOP”) is a large chain of casual restaurants [...]
Dairy Queen v. Yogubliz – A “Blizzard” of Trademark Litigation Like No Other
If you happen to be from California (or enjoy gambling at the Mirage or Palms casinos in Las Vegas), you may be familiar with a small chain of frozen yogurt shops called “Blizz Frozen Yogurt” owned by a California company by the name of Yogubliz, Inc. According to its website, Yogubliz currently operates eight locations [...]
Dirt Cheap v. Cheap Cheap – A Trademark Dispute Sure to Satisfy All Vices
This week’s blog post has some local flavor to it (alcohol and tobacco to be exact) thanks to a trademark dispute between two competing liquor stores here in the St. Louis area. Dotted across The Lou is a chain of twelve discount liquor and cigarette shops called DIRT CHEAP. Dirt Cheap is probably best known [...]
ANDY’S v. RANDY’S: A Tasty Little Trademark Infringement Indeed
During the latter portion of this past week, I was attending the Missouri Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference in Osage Beach (home to the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks). As I was driving down U.S. 54 to The Happy Fisherman for dinner Wednesday evening (which has the best all-you-can-eat catfish and salad bar), I [...]
BILL ME LATER / EBILLME Trademark Dispute: How Simply Using a Credit Card Online Will Help Avoid Funding Litigation
My weekly search of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board records led me to a pretty interesting situation between two competing companies in the e-commerce industry whose services you’ve probably never used if you are like the 99% of Americans who aren’t completely freaked out or paralyzed by the prospect of using their credit/debit card [...]
U.S. Senate Candidate on Trademark Infringement: “I Did It For The People Of This Great Country!”
About 10 days ago, a friend of mine forwarded to me this brief article which talks about an unauthorized use of a trademark owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team. According to the article, a campaign volunteer for Libertarian Marc Delphine of Oregon (who is running for a seat in the United States [...]
Days Inn Eureka: The Tale of a “Dirty” Little Infringer
After taking last weekend off to celebrate and subsequently recover from my 31st birthday (I know you missed me), I now triumphantly return with an anecdote from the city in which I currently reside, St. Louis, Missouri. Home of Budweiser, the Cardinals, and apparently a disgustingly filthy hotel. As some of you familiar with the [...]
Microsoft Spending Its Bling to Defend Its “BING”
Since I spent the last few weeks writing about Apple and the rampant trademark infringement happening in its iTunes App Store, I figured I’d even things out a little with an anecdote about everyone’s favorite whipping boy of the computer industry. On March 2, 2009, Microsoft filed two trademark applications seeking to register the mark [...]
