LOS ANGELES — For the second time in three years, King’s Hawaiian has settled a lawsuit against Aldi over packaging sold at the discount grocery chain that King’s Hawaiian alleged infringed its intellectual property rights in its well-known orange packaging.
The settlement brings another swift conclusion to the latest lawsuit filed by the long-time manufacturer of Hawaiian sweet bread products to protect its iconic orange packaging trade dress. In this most recent lawsuit, King’s Hawaiian filed suit against Aldi in a federal court in Los Angeles in November alleging infringement of its intellectual property rights in the distinctive packaging trade dress that King’s Hawaiian uses for its famous Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls. The suit also alleged breach of the parties’ earlier settlement agreement that had resolved a similar lawsuit King’s Hawaiian filed against Aldi in Georgia in October 2015.
In the latest lawsuit filed in November 2018, King’s Hawaiian alleged Aldi was selling sweet Hawaiian bread stuffing mix in packaging confusingly similar to the King’s Hawaiian packaging trade dress. King’s Hawaiian announced that it has now settled this latest lawsuit against Aldi on confidential terms, and that Aldi will be changing the packaging for its Hawaiian bread stuffing.
While the terms of the settlement agreement are confidential, King’s Hawaiian President and Chief Strategy Officer John Linehan said King’s Hawaiian is pleased with the settlement and with the resolution of the lawsuit.
“The King’s Hawaiian packaging trade dress is one of our most valuable assets and King’s Hawaiian has assembled a top-notch, two-firm legal team to protect and to enforce our intellectual property rights in the trade dress,” Linehan said. “We have invested significant time and resources and it is our intent that this legal team will vigorously pursue any infringement of our trade dress any time, in any place, and at any cost.”
King’s Hawaiian has filed and favorably resolved several similar lawsuits over its distinctive packaging trade dress in recent years in federal district courts across the United States, including in California, Georgia, and Illinois. These include lawsuits against Sprouts Farmer’s Market, Alpha Baking Company, Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, and Aldi. King’s Hawaiian resolved its lawsuit against Sprouts in 2015, Alpha Baking Company in 2016, Pan-O-Gold in 2018, and it settled its lawsuits against Aldi in 2016 and now 2019. In addition, according to King’s Hawaiian, the company and its legal team have also resolved other instances of alleged infringement on terms favorable to King’s Hawaiian without the need to file a lawsuit in Federal Court.
King’s Hawaiian’s intellectual property enforcement legal team is led by Scott B. Kidman of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and Brian M. Wheeler of Atkinson Andelson Loya Ruud & Romo.
The cases against Aldi were King’s Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc., et al. v. Aldi, Inc., case number 2:18-cv-09667-MWF-FFM, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and King’s Hawaiian Bakery Southeast, Inc., et al. v. Aldi, Inc., case number 2:15-cv-00212-RWS, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The case against Pan-O-Gold Baking Company was King’s Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc., et al. v. Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, case no. 1:17-cv-06443, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The case against Alpha Baking Company was King’s Hawaiian Bakery Southeast, Inc., et al. v. Alpha Baking Company, Inc., case no. 2:16-cv-00017-RWS, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The case against Sprouts was King’s Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc., et al. v. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., case no. 2:14-cv-05650, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
About King’s Hawaiian: Founded more than 60 years ago in Hilo, Hawaii, by Robert R. Taira, King’s Hawaiian is a family-owned business that for three generations has been dedicated to making irresistible, original recipe Hawaiian foods made with Aloha Spirit. Kings Hawaiian makes the #1 branded dinner roll in the United States, along with other great Hawaiian foods including hamburger buns, hot dog buns, sandwich bread, BBQ sauce and more. The company operates approximately 400,000 square feet of baking facilities in Torrance, California, and Oakwood, Georgia. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.KingsHawaiian.com, “Like” King’s Hawaiian on Facebook and follow King’s Hawaiian on Twitter.
