When real estate magnate John Catsimatidis got ready to open his new Trader John's supermarket in Manhattan, it immediately reminded people of natural food giant Trader Joe's. The blog Curbed reported that:
The 14th Street Trader Joe's makes roughly $437 billion every second, so it's natural for imitators to pop up. But so close! A tipster writes: "The former Gristedes Supermarket located on West 14th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue is re-opening as a 'Trader John's' supermarket. I'm not quite sure what 'Trader John's' is all about but I'm thinking it might be similar to Trader Joe's. Who knows. The new store sign and awning have been hung."
Trader Joe's decided it was a little too close. Forbes reports that the company has filed a lawsuit againt Catsimatidis alleging trademark infringement.
The lawsuit calls Trader John's a "blatant attempt to confuse consumers and capitalize on Trader Joe's hard-earned goodwill." Trader Joe's further alleges that the new store's "wood paneling, wagon wheels and baskets" are designed to create a look that "mimics the familiar decoration scheme of one of Trader Joe's stores."
The way Trader Joe's makes it sound, it's a pretty open and shut case. But the tycoon plans to fight it out in court.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-11-2009 @ 11:55AM
Bobby said...
I hereby make a ruling in favor of the real "trader Joe's". Originality is dead in the American cycle of business. Shame, shame, shame, we're resorting to knockoff's now....