istock-589092268-petcare
25 May 2017Trademarks

Nestlé Purina sued over bacon trademark

Pet food company Nestlé Purina Petcare has been sued by Hormel Foods, a producer of meat and food products, for Purina’s use of Hormel’s ‘Black Label’ trademark for its dogfood product.

The case was filed at the US District Court for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday, May 23, and alleged that Purina marketed its ‘Beggin’ dog treats, released in January this year, with the term ‘Black Label’, a prominent feature of the product and various campaigns.

Hormel said that Purina had “adopted the black label design for use with its bacon-shaped, ‘real meat’ dog treats with knowledge of Hormel Foods's 'Black Label’ mark and with intent to trade on the goodwill in Hormel Foods’s mark.”

Hormel owns US trademark numbers 1,018,473; 1,288,046; and 4,507,714 for the ‘Black Label’ mark, for use on bacon, processed meats and sandwiches.

It said that since 1963, it has continuously offered bacon products under the trademark.

The complaint also alleged that a Purina commercial called “Beggin’ Strips—Get That Bacon on the Meat Aisle”, which featured a cartoon dog sniffing down a grocery bacon case, contained images of Hormel’s Black Label bacon.

“In addition to prominently featuring real bacon in their advertisements, Purina’s Black Label product has the appearance of real bacon, which Purina prominently markets floating against a black backdrop in advertisements that are strikingly similar to a number of Hormel advertisements for its Black Label brand products,” said the claim.

Hormel is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, damages, attorneys’ fees, triple damages and a jury trial.

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