Big Red takes on ‘confusingly similar’ rival

Big Red, one of the largest soft drink makers in the US, has filed a lawsuit in which it has claimed that the Big Ben brand infringes its trademarks.

In a complaint filed last week (May 6) at the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, Big Red has alleged that the Big Ben name trades on the goodwill of its “decades-old brand” and infringes its trade dress.

Big Red was created in 1937. The soft drink is a mixture of lemon, orange and vanilla flavour with red food colouring. According to the complaint, it is the sixth largest soft drink maker in the US.

Big Ben, which is available in various flavours, is produced by Catawissa Bottling Company.

In 1960, Big Red was granted a US trademark for its name covering syrups for bicarbonate soda. In 1990, it was granted a second trademark for the phrase for use on soft drinks.

Big Red has taken exception to the name Big Ben as well as its packaging, which it claims is “substantially similar”.

“Big Red has marketed its bottled Big Red Soda in consistent product packaging, which is unified by a central configuration: Two single syllable words ‘Big Red’ are featured prominently on the centre of a label,” the court document said.

Big Ben’s packaging shows the word ‘Big’ on top of the word ‘Ben’s’ on a label in the centre of the bottle.

In the complaint, Big Red said the similarities between both brands are: “Likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, and/or to deceive customers at least as to some affiliation, connection or association with Big Red”.

The soda maker has requested that the court rule that Big Ben’s infringement was wilful. It is also demanding that any damages it is awarded are trebled.

Big Red and Catawissa Bottling Company were contacted by WIPR for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.