The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that H.J. Heinz Co. Brands did not violate the Metchup trademark when it introduced a poll letting consumers choose the name of its mayonnaise-ketchup blend, which ultimately chose "Mayochup" as the winner but included "Metchup" as an option. Perry v. H.J. Heinz Co. Brands LLC, No. 20-30418 (5th Cir., entered April 12, 2021). The district court found no likelihood of confusion between Heinz' "convenient, yet perhaps gratuitous, mixture" and the plaintiff's product, which has sold about $170 worth of either mayonnaise-ketchup or mustard-ketchup blends "from the lobby of a nine-room motel adjacent to his used-car dealership in Lacombe, Louisiana." The appeals court found that the Metchup name was one of more than 90 suggestions submitted by consumers in Heinz' poll on what the mayonnaise-ketchup combination should be called, which also included, as the court noted, "Saucy McSauceface, an apparent…
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Europol and Interpol have announced the seizure of 320 additional tonnes of "counterfeit and substandard food and beverages" following an operation that involved 83 countries, bringing the operation's seizure total to about 12,000 tonnes. "This year’s operational activities have found a new disturbing trend to address: the infiltration of low-quality products into the supply chain, a development possibly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic," the press release notes. The operation, which focused on dairy foods, olive oil, alcohol and horse meat, also identified counterfeit cereals, grains and derived products as well as coffee, tea and condiments.
The European Court of Justice has reportedly held that "balsamic" as a descriptor for vinegar is not reserved exclusively for producers in Modena, Italy. The case challenged a German vinegar producer's use of "Balsamico" and "Deutscher Balsamico." Although "Balsamic Vinegar from Modena" has been a geographic indication within the European Union for more than a decade, the court held, the rights to exclusive use did not extend to each word within the phrase. "The term 'aceto' [vinegar] is a common term and the term 'balsamico' [balsamic] is an adjective that is commonly used to refer to a vinegar with a bitter-sweet flavour," the court reportedly held.
The owner of a trademark on "Metchup" has filed an infringement suit alleging that H.J. Heinz Co.'s "Mayochup" is "confusingly similar" to his protected trademark. Perry v. H.J. Heinz Co. Brands, No. 19-0280 (E.D. La., filed January 14, 2019). The plaintiff has purportedly used the "Metchup" mark to sell his ketchup-mayonnaise and mustard-mayonnaise combinations since 2010, and he asserts that Kraft Heinz Co. has infringed on his trademark by using a mark that "bears a particularly strong phonetic similarity to Plaintiff's mark. Depending on pronunciation and/or regional dialect, the marks are virtually indistinguishable from one another." The complaint further cites Google search results for "metchup," which direct searchers to the Heinz website, as evidence that consumers are confusing the two marks. The plaintiff seeks an injunction, destruction of infringing materials, damages and attorney's fees for allegations of counterfeiting, trademark infringement, false designation of origin and violations of Louisiana's business codes.
