Trademark infringement case filed against Einstein Bagels’ parent company
A trademark dilution lawsuit has been registered against the Einstein Noah Restaurant Group in the U.S. District Court in Denver by the Aurora-based Honey Smoked Fish Co. Einstein Noah Restaurant Group is based in Lakewood and is the owner and producer of the widely popular Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah’s New York Bagel and Manhattan Bagel. The lawsuit claims that Einstein initially approached the Honey Smoked Fish Co. about potentially offering salmon branded under the Honey Smoked trademark at its restaurants. However, the lawsuit claims that despite the initial concern by Einstein, the company decided to instead “simply copy the brand without permission to benefit from the goodwill Honey Smoked Fish Company already created.”
Liz Ditrapano, a spokesperson for Einstein, did not comment on the matter saying that the company had not received any complaint.
Kevin Mason, founder and CEO of Honey Smoked Fish Co. said that his company has spent many year develop a healthy preparation process for salmon products and that the new product by Einstein Noah will confuse consumers into eating possibly low-quality product, which could raise health issues.
Honey Smoked Fish Co. is represented in the lawsuit by Greg Tamkin from Dorsey & Whitney LLP. He says that his client has spent many years and also millions of dollars to build up the brand into a consumer-recognized and trusted product.
Tamkin said, “It is not fair for Einstein Noah to benefit from Honey Smoked Fish Company’s efforts. Similarly, it would not be fair to Honey Smoked Fish Company for Einstein Noah to harm the good reputation that Honey Smoked Fish Company spent years developing.”
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