LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Zaxby's is suing Louisville-based Joella's Hot Chicken over it's "confusingly similar" logo, according to recently filed court documents.
The Georgia-based chicken restaurant filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Joella's Jan. 22 in Atlanta. The company alleges that Joella's Hot Chicken logo is "confusingly similar" to Zaxby's trademarked logos...
Zaxby's is on right
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Posts: 4923 | Location: Sunnyside of Louisville | Registered: July 04, 2007
I'm not a lawyer or expert in trademark law, but it's my layman understanding that companies and corporate lawyers can feel somewhat obligated to file these semi-valid infringement cases as a means of demonstrating a healthy defense of their trademark, which apparently strengthens their position in any later, more valid case. Otherwise, the other party in a later lawsuit can claim that they hadn't taken infringement seriously in the past, or the like. (Sort of an "enforce it or lose it" kind of situation, I guess.)
That is, they don't do it intending to win, they're just demonstrating that they're taking defending their logo seriously.
This even sometimes results in some of these "shotgun approach" situations, where a company named something like "Mountaintop Inc." will file against two dozen other companies with the term "Mountaintop" in their names (Mountaintop Foods, Mountaintop Racing, Mountaintop Horse Riding, etc.), even though they fully intend not to win or pursue it very vigorously, just as a "mass show of force" in protecting their trademark.
I hope a member of the Sigforum Bar comes along to shed more light on this, as they can obviously explain it way better than I can. (And I may have it back asswards.)
Very similar lawsuit was filed a few years ago with another Kentucky based company, West 6th Brewing. It was settled out of court before the hammer dropped.
Zaxby's loses because any confusion is a result of both logos being unoriginal, unremarkable, and unmemorable. Seriously, I've driven by Zaxby's restaurants and signs hundreds of times and didn't even realize they had a logo. It looks like someone's grade school kid came up with it. It should never have left it's spot hanging on the fridge.
Posts: 12373 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007
Originally posted by trapper189: Zaxby's loses because any confusion is a result of both logos being unoriginal, unremarkable, and unmemorable. Seriously, I've driven by Zaxby's restaurants and signs hundreds of times and didn't even realize they had a logo. It looks like someone's grade school kid came up with it. It should never have left it's spot hanging on the fridge.
Love me some Zaxby’s, but they don’t look similar to me.
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Posts: 17927 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005