AP – The J.M. Smucker Co. is suing Trader Joe’s, alleging the grocery chain’s new frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are too similar to Smucker’s Uncrustables in their design and packaging.
In the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in Ohio, Smucker said the round, crustless sandwiches Trader Joe’s sells have the same pie-like crimp markings on their edges that Uncrustables do. Smucker said the design violates its trademarks.
Smucker also asserted that the boxes Trader Joe’s PB&J sandwiches come in violate the company’s trademarks because they are the same blue color it uses for the lettering on “Uncrustables” packages.
Trader Joe’s boxes also show a sandwich with a bite mark taken out of it, which is similar to the Uncrustables design, Smucker said.
“Smucker does not take issue with others in the marketplace selling prepackaged, frozen, thaw-and-eat crustless sandwiches. But it cannot allow others to use Smucker’s valuable intellectual property to make such sales,” the company said in its lawsuit.
Smucker is seeking restitution from Trader Joe’s. It also wants a judge to require Trader Joe’s to deliver all products and packaging to Smucker to be destroyed.
Michael Kelber, chair of the intellectual property group at Neal Gerber Eisenberg, a Chicago law firm, said Smucker’s registered trademarks will help bolster its argument.
But Trader Joe’s might argue that the crimping on its sandwiches is simply functional and not something that can be trademarked, Kelber said.
Trader Joe’s sandwiches also appear to be slightly more square than Uncrustables, so the company could argue that the shape isn’t the same, Kelber said.
Uncrustables were invented by two friends who began producing them in 1996 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Smucker bought their company in 1998 …
