A lawsuit settlement was just announced between King’s Hawaiian and Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, a Minnesota-based company. The lawsuit itself was filed by King’s Hawaiian “against the Midwest company regarding the well-known packaging King’s Hawaiian uses with its beloved Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls,” and alleged that Pan-O-Gold “infringed its intellectual property rights in its well-known orange packaging.”
A lawsuit settlement was just announced between King’s Hawaiian and Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, a Minnesota-based company. The lawsuit itself was filed by King’s Hawaiian “against the Midwest company regarding the well-known packaging King’s Hawaiian uses with its beloved Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls,” and alleged that Pan-O-Gold “infringed its intellectual property rights in its well-known orange packaging.”
King’s Hawaiian first filed the lawsuit against the Midwest baking company back in September of 2017 in federal court because it alleged “Pan-O-Gold was selling sweet Hawaiian rolls in packaging that was confusingly similar to the iconic orange packaging King’s Hawaiian uses with its famous Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls.” Details of the settlement are confidential at the moment, though King’s Hawaiian President and Chief Strategy Officer John Linehan issued a statement, saying, “we are very pleased with the settlement and the resolution of the lawsuit.” While few details surrounding the settlement are known at this time, “Pan-O-Gold will be changing its packaging.”
When commenting on Pan-O-Gold’s agreement to change its packaging, Linehan said:
“We believe our packaging trade dress is distinctive and famous…The King’s Hawaiian packaging is a very valuable asset to King’s Hawaiian and we have assembled an excellent legal team to protect and to enforce our intellectual property rights in the trade dress. We have invested a significant amount of time and resources and it is our intent that this team will vigorously pursue any infringement to our trade dress any time it occurs, in any location it occurs and at any cost.”
This isn’t the first time King’s Hawaiian has gone after other companies over their packaging. In fact, over the last few years, the company has filed lawsuits against Aldi, Alpha Baking Company, and Sprouts Farmer’s Market. All three of those lawsuits have since been settled.
But what is King’s Hawaiian? For starters, it’s known for manufacturing the “#1 branded dinner roll in the United States, and operates approximately 400,000 square feet of baking facilities in Torrance, California and Oakwood, Georgia.” Founded more than 60 years ago by Robert R. Taira, it’s a “family-owned business that for three generations has been dedicated to making irresistible, original recipe Hawaiian foods made with Aloha Spirit.”
Those who wish to learn more about the lawsuit can find it by looking up the case details. According to court records, the case against Pan-O-Gold is “King’s Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc., et al. v. Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, Inc., case number 1:17-cv-06443, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.”
Sources:
King’s Hawaiian Settles Lawsuit against Midwest Bakery over Hawaiian Sweet Roll Packaging
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