« Court Finds Abercrombie's Stitch Design Does Not Dilute Levi's Stitch Design | Main | If You Ask Me, Wineries Still Have a Lot to Learn About Branding »

Gallo Sues Seattle Retailer for Selling Spanish-Made Gallo-Branded Pasta

On April 13, E. & J. Gallo Winery filed a trademark infringement suit in the Eastern District of California against Seattle-based speciality food store The Spanish Table, Inc. (which also has stores in Santa Fe, Berkeley, and Mill Valley, Calif.).

Gallo alleges that The Spanish Table sells Spanish-made GALLO pasta, which is likely to cause confusion with Gallo’s GALLO trademark for wines, meats, and cheeses. The complaint states that “gallo” means “rooster” in Italian, and the winery used to feature roosters on its labels. (“Gallo” also appears to mean “rooster” in Spanish, pronounced “Guy-o”). The complaint alleges that Gallo obtained the Spanish company’s agreement not to sell its goods in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Spanish company is not named in the lawsuit.

Local coverage with copious comments here. From the story, it sounds like The Spanish Table will stop selling GALLO pasta and the lawsuit will go away. Hope that’s how it works out.

The case cite is E. & J. Gallo Winery v. The Spanish Table, Inc., No. 09-677 (E.D. Calif.).

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Registered CommenterMichael Atkins in , | Comments3 Comments

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments (3)

Ridiculous. Does this mean we can't make/eat Pico de Gallo, Gallo Pinto, or eat rooster? What a waste of time and money that could be better used. This winery has no right to the word "rooster".
April 22, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKris Ness
The Spanish Table is a trademark holder. We have no argument with trademark protection. Our issue is whether specialty food retailers should have access to legitimate, established foreign brands. Pastas Gallo’s brand dates to 1874. Gallo Wine is the junior mark having only been used since 1933. What The Spanish Table offers our customers is genuineness: Genuine flavors, bona fide ingredients, authentic brands. Pastas Gallo fideo meets those criteria.
- Steve Winston, Owner, The Spanish Table
May 2, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterThe Spanish Table
Gallo is nothing but a bully, they don't own the rooster name in spanish , mexican, french and italian.I say stop being intimidated and go to court and let a judge determine what you can do, not a couple of strong arm attorneys.
January 27, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterRichard Reinders

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.