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Allston company visualizes World Peas, doesn't like what it sees, sues
By adamg on Wed, 08/12/2015 - 8:07am
Too similar?
Biena, LLC, an Allston company that makes a line of spicy chickpea-based snack foods, is suing a Texas company that makes a line of spicy -green-pea-based snack foods over their packaging.
Biena's suit, filed this week in US District Court in Boston, is a preemptive move: Grandma Lu's Spice Cabinet, which makes World Peas snacks, was threatening a lawsuit against Biena over its packaging. Biena is asking a judge to declare that its color-coded, resealable rectangular packages with an irregularly shaped window on the front and a quote from its founder on the back would not confuse consumers if compared with Grandma Lu's color-coded, resealable trapezoidal packages with a round window on the front and a quote from its founder on the back.
According to Biena, the trouble started when it redesigned its packages by switching two small windows for one larger one and added a quote from its founder on the back of its back, and Grandma Lu's began sending cease-and-desist letters.
Biena says both rectangular and trapezoidal shapes are common in the snack-food industry. Also:
The practice of incorporating color and artistic elements to denote flavor is common in the snack food industry.
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| Attachment | Size |
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 Biena's complete complaint | 60.01 KB |
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Comments
A Texas based company
but there's an outline of the State of California on their product?
Maybe their peas are from CA?
But the company itself is headquartered in Austin, TX.
Flavor
Looks like the flavor is "Santa Barbara Ranch" (whatever that is). I'm guessing that's where California enters into it.
What business
Looking to be profitable would incorporate in the countries most liberal, tax heavy state? Its for tax purposes, it not uncommon even among small firms.
Comment
withdrawn.
Mine
too. :-D
Look it's the
Cappy of chickpeas.
Huh?
So the Allston company copied the packaging of another company and then sued them? Seems legit.
Other way around?
The Allston company and the Texas company ended up with something similar (copied or, maybe, just trendiness in packaging). The Texas company was considering suing, so the Allston company preempted that.
In any case, the Texas company was threatening to sue, the Allston company says that there isn't anything particularly unique about either type of packaging in the food industry.
One of the major selling
One of the major selling points of that wholly remarkable book, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy ....
The simplistic style is partly explained by the fact that its editors, having to meet a publishing deadline, copied the information off the back of a packet of breakfast cereal, hastily embroidering it with several footnotes in order to avoid prosecution under the incomprehensibly tortuous Galactic copyright laws. It is interesting to note that a later and wilier editor sent the book backwards in time through a temporal warp and then successfully sued the breakfast cereal company for infringement of the same laws.
Not a comment on the suit but
Not a comment on the suit but just on the chickpea snacks. They're delicious.
I make my own...
I got the recipe from Rachel Ray. Much better than the packaged ones!
When worlds collide
I actually interviewed at Biena earlier this year. I also interviewed with an organization which concerns itself with managing trademarks and patents. Apparently they should get together...