Tyson Foods Wins Legal Wrangle Over Hot Dog

This lawsuit over hot dogs failed to cut the mustard.

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit accusing Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. and its Hillshire Brands unit of infringing a trademark belonging to the maker of Parks' sausages when they used "Park's Finest" to describe a line of their Ball Park hot dogs.

In a decision late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Leeson in Allentown, Pa., said the defendants' use of "Park's Finest" was unlikely to confuse a large number of consumers into thinking the plaintiff Parks LLC made them.

Parks is owned by Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame football running back from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Lydell Mitchell, a former star running back with the Baltimore Colts, who were also teammates at Pennsylvania State University.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Reuters