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Hershey's Tells Court This Brownie Pan Looks Waaaaay Too Familiar

By Bruce Carton

The Legal Intelligencer had an interesting article yesterday about Hershey Co.'s recent trademark infringement case against Williams-Sonoma Inc. Hershey's beef with Williams-Sonoma concerns the sale of a particular brownie pan. Hershey has sought an injunction to block any further sales of the pan, arguing that it "unlawfully trades on the goodwill and reputation Hershey has established through its use and promotion of that product configuration trademark." Wait, you say -- how can a brownie pan look enough like a Hershey's bar to cause all of this fuss? Well, take a look at the pan for yourself. Does this look familiar? Hershey's argues that its chocolate bar design is more than just a rectangle. Rather, it is "a rectangle containing 12 equally sized rectangular panels arranged in a 4x3 format, with each panel having its own raised borders." Just like the brownie pan, it argues, which "embodies and mimics" its design. Judge Carton was about to quickly dismiss this case when he heard "Hersheys" and "brownie pan" but after seeing the pan above, I have decide to take the matter under advisement.

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on May 19, 2010 (boomark / email).