06-28-2007, 06:51 AM
> The suit, which seeks unspecified financial damages from Mr. McFarland
> and the restaurant itself, charges that Ed’s Lobster Bar copies “each and
> every element” of Pearl Oyster Bar, including the white marble bar, the gray
> paint on the wainscoting, the chairs and bar stools with their wheat-straw
> backs, the packets of oyster crackers placed at each table setting and the
> dressing on the Caesar salad.
From the description, they're not copying the menu. They're copying the trade-dress.
If so, that's possibly a legit lawsuit.
Think of it like this: You're Dunkin Donuts and somebody opens a donut place across the street from you, copying your little donut shack exactly, except for the name, which still looks suspiciously like your own logo.
Now the place across the street makes really REALLY bad donuts. But because it looks just like your donut shack, YOU loose customers.
Where do you turn for help?
Trade dress is essentially the same as a trademark. It identifies a the origin of goods, allowing customers to make educated decisions about the quality of the products that they are buying. If someone rips off your trade dress, there's the possibility that people will confuse your products with those of your competitor and end up with defective goods that they blame on YOU.
The law protects both consumers and merchants from this situation, but there's a catch or two... the big one is that the plaintiff is going to have to show that her trade dress distinctively identifies her products and services. If those decorations and that oh-so-special salad dressing don't point straight back to her restaurant, she loses her case and the wad of legal fees she spent trying to oppress her competitors.
I'd like to see this tried in court.
As a judge, I'd throw out the "trade secret" lawsuit, tho. She never made her chefs sign NDA's. Oops!
> and the restaurant itself, charges that Ed’s Lobster Bar copies “each and
> every element” of Pearl Oyster Bar, including the white marble bar, the gray
> paint on the wainscoting, the chairs and bar stools with their wheat-straw
> backs, the packets of oyster crackers placed at each table setting and the
> dressing on the Caesar salad.
From the description, they're not copying the menu. They're copying the trade-dress.
If so, that's possibly a legit lawsuit.
Think of it like this: You're Dunkin Donuts and somebody opens a donut place across the street from you, copying your little donut shack exactly, except for the name, which still looks suspiciously like your own logo.
Now the place across the street makes really REALLY bad donuts. But because it looks just like your donut shack, YOU loose customers.
Where do you turn for help?
Trade dress is essentially the same as a trademark. It identifies a the origin of goods, allowing customers to make educated decisions about the quality of the products that they are buying. If someone rips off your trade dress, there's the possibility that people will confuse your products with those of your competitor and end up with defective goods that they blame on YOU.
The law protects both consumers and merchants from this situation, but there's a catch or two... the big one is that the plaintiff is going to have to show that her trade dress distinctively identifies her products and services. If those decorations and that oh-so-special salad dressing don't point straight back to her restaurant, she loses her case and the wad of legal fees she spent trying to oppress her competitors.
I'd like to see this tried in court.
As a judge, I'd throw out the "trade secret" lawsuit, tho. She never made her chefs sign NDA's. Oops!