Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 629

  • TTAB Refuses Trademark Registration for La Finca Wines

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has affirmed a refusal by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register a trademark for La Finca wines on the grounds that the winemaker failed to show evidence that the brand has acquired distinctiveness. In re Finca La Celia, S.A., No. 86130560 (opinion issued March 31,…

  • Court Tentatively Approves $8.25­ Million Settlement in Whole Foods Kombucha Class Action

    A federal court in California has given preliminary approval to a proposed $8.25-­million settlement of a class action claiming that kombucha tea products manufactured by Millennium Products, Inc. and sold at Whole Foods were mislabeled. Retta v. Millennium Products, No. 15-­1801 (C.D. Cal., order entered January 31, 2017). The plaintiffs claimed that the kombucha labels…

  • California Court Refuses to Dismiss Projected Slack Fill Class Action Against Golden Grain

    A California court is allowing to proceed a putative slack-­fill class action against Golden Grain Inc., a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc. that makes Near East rice and grain products. Arcala v. Golden Grain Co., No. 16-­555084 (Cal. Sup. Ct. San Francisco Cty., order entered April 5, 2017). The plaintiffs allege that Golden Grain’s couscous, rice…

  • Plaintiffs Claim Wise Foods Underfilled Potato Chip Bags

    Wise Foods, Inc. is facing a projected class action claiming the company’s potato chip bags have more than double the amount of slack fill as its major competitors’ bags. Alce v. Wise Foods, Inc., No. 17­-2402 (S.D.N.Y., filed April 3, 2017). The plaintiffs claim that bags of 21 varieties of Wise’s Potato Chips, Kettle Cooked…

  • Dunkin’ Donuts Franchises Settle Fake Butter Suits

    Twenty-­three Dunkin’ Donuts franchise locations in Massachusetts have reached a tentative settlement with a plaintiff who claimed the stores served him “margarine or a butter substitute” on his bagels despite his request for butter. Polanik v. Boston Hill Donuts, LLC, No. 17-84­914 (Suffolk Cty. Superior Ct., settlement agreement filed March 24, 2017); Polanik v. CM&R…

  • “Codfather” Pleads Guilty in Fish Falsification Case

    The owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the United States has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, falsifying federal records, cash smuggling and tax evasion in a case accusing him of deliberately misreporting the types of fish he caught to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). U.S. v. Rafael, No. 16­-10124 (D.…

  • Court Finds Bumble Bee Tuna Omega-­3 Labeling “Open to Criticism” But Not Illegal

    A California court held that Bumble Bee Foods, LLC did not act illegally by claiming its tuna was an “excellent source” of omega-­3 fatty acids despite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to prohibit the practice. Garrett v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, No. 14-­264322 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Santa Clara Cty., order entered March…

  • Bipartisan Congressional Group Calls for Review of “Havana Club” Trademark

    Several members of Congress, led by Reps. Ileana Ros-­Lehtinen (R­Fla.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D­Fla.), have urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to review the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC’s) “unprecedented decision to grant a license to allow Cubaexport, an entity wholly­owned by the Cuban government, to…