Trader Joe’s Lawsuit Against Union Gets Dismissed

Grocer claimed trademark infringement over merchandise sold online by employee union

1/18/2024

California judge has tossed Trader Joe’s trademark complaint against union.

A Los Angeles federal court has dismissed a trademark lawsuit filed by Trader Joe's against its employee union over the use of the store's logos on union merchandise, as reported by Reuters.

The grocery chain filed the lawsuit during the summer last year to stop Trader Joe's United from using a logo deemed too similar to its own official logo. The retailer claimed that the imagery represents copyright infringement and the union’s merchandise is “likely to cause consumer confusion.”

However, U.S. District Judge Hernan Vera ruled that Trader Joe's United's use of the chain's name and logos on tote bags, buttons, mugs and other products would not confuse consumers. The judge said that the union's designs were not similar to the store's trademarks and noted that the only place customers can buy the union's merchandise is through its website, which is "openly critical of Plaintiff's labor practices."

Vera also said that Trader Joe's lawsuit was "dangerously close" to being frivolous or improper, and that it "strains credulity" to think it would have been filed "absent the ongoing organizing efforts that Trader Joe's employees have mounted (successfully) in multiple locations across the country."

As reported by Reuters, Trader Joe's spokesperson said that the company "consistently takes legal action to protect our brand when we become aware that someone other than Trader Joe's is selling merchandise using our trademarks" and that it will "continue to take all appropriate action to protect our brand."

According to a statement made by Trader Joe's United, the organization said that the decision was "a vindicating and joyous occasion for our union."

The union also celebrated a win last year when associates at a Trader Joe’s store in Oakland, Calif., voted to unionize.

With more than 500 stores in 40-plus states, Trader Joe’s is No. 27 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company as one of its Retailers of the Century.