Snack on This One: A Red, Hot, Chip Fight
Minneapolis is the chosen venue for a brand new legal food fight, one involving potato chips.
Putting aside for the moment that the proper test of trademark infringement is not based on a side by side comparison of products (unless, of course, they are encountered that way in the real world, as opposed to the court room) because consumers are believed to have imperfect recollections of the details of brands and marks, what do you think about the allegation of likely confusion between the two packages shown below?
Ding, ding, ding. Ladies and gentlemen, in the white bag, standing in the right corner, sporting the Old Vienna® brand, and the federally-registered Red Hot Riplets® mark (disclaiming only the term “Hot”), is the fighter claiming infringement. In the red-brick bag, standing in the left corner, sporting the Engine Co. 51 brand, and the words Red Hot Ripple, is the “fire” fighter claiming it has done nothing wrong, and feels so strongly, it wants to prove so in court.
To read the spicy cease and desist letters from Old Vienna® that triggered the lawsuit, see here.
To read a copy of the federal complaint filed in court by Barrel O’Fun Snack Foods, see here.
To see how this fight progresses, stay tuned here on DuetsBlog.
Without reading the briefs, I'd say that Barrel O' Fun is in for a Barrel O' No Fun.
I think that the alleged knock-off is actually very different from the trademarked (white) bag. Still, I can see why they made a big deal.The typeface and treatment to the typeface is very similar, plus the products are of similar nature (taste, heat).
But, as a consumer it's doubtful if I'd confuse a red bag with a white one.
What Old Vienna really needs is not pick fights with suspected knock-offs, but rather improve the visual equity of their brand name to make it more distinctive and less likely to be easy to rip off. Their current look is more generic looking then the Engine Co 51's look, to be perfectly honest...
You have got to be kidding me. This is just another example of lawyers trying to con the system. How many hot chips are there, wait a minute this one uses a similar font. Oh lets see if we can sue them and make some money. CROOKS
I just want to say, without any real legal knowledge on the issue, that the Engine co. 51 chips are delicious, though the fact that I found them at a Big Lots! might say something about their future because of this suit. That said, the only real place I could see the 'infringement' is in the font and placement of the letters, the color schemes are entirely different and so are the images on the bag. I don't think the defendants will win this fight, but I could be wrong.
I Dont REALLY CARE ABOUT THE LAWSUIT I WAS JUST EATING SOME ENGINE CO51 CHIPS AND WAS LOOKING UP REVIEWS ON THEM, THEY ARE GOOD BUT as far as Hot THEY SHOULD JUST PUT WARM on the label COMPARED TO THE Red Hot riplets which are the real deal. And at first I thought they might have been a new OLD Vienna product before reading the whole package but I dont see any big deal. The OLD Vienna chips are much better if you like real hot chips!