Tag Archives licensing

Ina Garten, the chef who hosts Food Network’s “Barefoot Contessa,” and her company have filed a lawsuit against a seafood producer for allegedly infringing the Barefoot Contessa mark with its line of “Contessa Chef Inspired” frozen dinners. Barefoot Contessa Pantry LLC v. Aqua Star (USA) Co., No. 15-1092 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 17, 2015). Barefoot Contessa, the company that owns the trademarked name, agreed in 2012 to license the mark to unrelated entity Contessa Premium, a frozen- dinner manufacturer, on the condition that Garten and the company had strict control over the quality of the dinners produced and marketed under the Barefoot Contessa name. In April 2014, Contessa Premium sold its assets to OFI Imports, Inc. and its parent company, Aqua Star, according to the complaint. The day after the sale, Barefoot Contessa apparently terminated the license and refused to grant OFI a new license, “given OFI’s lack of experience in…