Never Ending Story Ends!

Last December, we commented on a trademark infringement case, A Never Ending Story?, which involved Darden’s Olive Garden restaurant accusing rival Red Lobster of infringing the Never Ending Pasta Bowl® federally registered trademark through the latter’s “Never Ending Shrimp” promotion.  The parties have now settled on a permanent injunction which entails Red Lobster will never again use the offending designation “Never Ending” for its food-related promotions on any materials, websites, etc.  No answer, defenses, or actual damages were claimed, but it is interesting that Darden seems to have been granted a monopoly on the “Never Ending” adjective in the restaurant business, regardless of how descriptive of the actual product offering it is; Did Red Lobster yield too soon for a crustacean?

 

Comments are closed.