Intellectual Property Law

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

By Michael Atkins

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.).

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on April 21, 2009 (boomark / email).