The Seattle Times ran a front page story today on the Western District infringement suit, Moonstruck Chocolate Co. v. Moonray Espresso Corp., No. 07-0091. At issue is whether the Duvall-based Moonray Espresso cafe is likely to cause confusion with the Portand-based Moonstruck Chocolate, a chocolatier and owner of “chocolate cafes” located in Oregon, California, and Illinois.
STL’s publisher is defending Moonray Espresso in the case.
Of particular interest was an online poll that asked readers: “In your opinion, is there a trademark issue here?” As of 6 p.m., 1,555 readers had responded. Here’s what they said:
Yes - 5%
No - 93%
I don’t Know - 1%
A colleague commented that perhaps a better question might have been: “In your opinion, is ‘Moonray Espresso’ likely to cause confusion with ‘Moonstruck Chocolate?’” His point was that newspaper readers — even newspaper reporters — can mix up the law of trademarks, copyrights, and patents, but everyone knows what confusion is. I think he’s right. However, I do think the poll correctly indicates most consumers (if not the vast majority) would not confuse the source of coffee purchased at a small town cafe with a chocolatier located 200 miles away — whether the chocolatier also sells coffee or not.
I have strong opinions about this case, but I’ll save them for our briefs.
A copy of Moonstruck Chocolate’s complaint is accessible here.