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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Owners of Chickie’s & Pete’s crab house and sports bar get a little crabby when other restaurants infringe on their trademark crustacean-flavored French fries.
Though there is no actual crab in the Philadelphia restaurant chain’s signature side dish, which is flavored with crab seasonings, CPC Properties Inc., the chain’s Wilmington, Del.-based parent, has spent millions of dollars marketing and promoting its so-called Crabfries®.
Over the years, SPC has sued numerous companies for trademark infringement, its latest target being Dominic Inc.’s restaurant Tony’s Place, which CPC asserts unlawfully used an image of a crab next to the word “fries” in its marketing materials.
A federal judge agreed Aug. 20, requiring Dominic to refrain from using the term “crab fries” anywhere in its sales or marketing efforts and to remove any image of a crab near the word “fries” in its menus and website.
However, the judge did toss CPC’s unjust enrichment claim, finding that Dominic did not experience any increased profit or other benefits as a result of cribbing from the famous crab house’s brand.