Is the signage similar?
I do think itās a bit suspicious if itās proximal to the old location of their incredibly popular wine store
Youād think they have more pressing issues given the seemingly constant recalls of their products.
But the wine store is gone. And the signage is no longer similar.
Thereās a Joeās Pizza shop right near a TJās store. TJs sells pizzaā¦why isnāt that an issue?
What about a Joeās Coffee Shop in NYC? Yup, Joe Coffee.
The wine store took down the similar banner, and their usual color is brown. But TJs also wants them to remove wood paneling because itās similar to theirs? GMAFB.
Thatās why I was curious about the signage.
I mean, itās not like intentional brand copying / confusion isnāt a thing ā we do have all the Rays 
Trader Joeās attorneys claim the wine store stole the chainās entire aesthetic, including its initial use of a red circular logo, color scheme and wood paneling to āape the look of a Trader Joeās store.ā
They did sort of admit to copying some of it:
He added that the color scheme and circular logo mentioned in the suit were only part of promotional banners
According to Trader Joeās account, the lawsuit follows months of trying to settle the dispute outside of court, during which the small business assured the grocery chain it would change their name and branding. And while Joeās Wine Co.ās red banner and circular logo did come down, other significant brand ātrade dressā remained, like the wood paneling.
Joe Juniorās is also pretty close, and sells prepared food because it is a diner. TJās also sells prepared food!
You know, weāre getting a Lidl in my neighborhood, so maybe I can replace TJās cheap Greek yogurt and seltzer with Lidlās. If they have that stuff.
Are we really arguing that only one store in NYC can have wood paneling?
You know itās not about wood paneling
If their logo is brown, why use a TJās-like red logo and print in āpromotionalā materials to the public? Just use your own.
But TJās Wine is gone. The new store cannot possibly be taking business from TJās, because TJās no longer sells wine in that neighborhood.
Itās about IP infringement, not whether they are taking $$$ away from a proximal store
There are still TJ wine stores elsewhere and the TJs brand is powerful
So if theyāre actively copying it, thatās what the lawsuit is about
If they were, they no longer are. It seems to me like a frivolous, malicious lawsuit by TJās. Who you may remember closed their wine store because the employees were trying to unionize.
The unionizing issue with the store is unrelated to whether the new store was actively trying to copy TJs branding, though
If they werenāt, they wouldnāt have agreed to change it. Or to clarify that they were using that branding onky on promotional materials even though it didnāt match their store logo.
You can be on team Trader Joeās if you want, but I am emphatically not. Theyāre being assholes.
Iām not on team anyone
But Iām also not automatically siding with the ālittle guyā if they were actively trying to copy IP
Itās not always a black and white David and goliath
This reminds me of the time a few decades ago when Ernest and Julio Gallo sued Joseph Gallo (their little brother, fer cryinā out loud) for using the family name on the cheese his company produced. To my surprise, they won. I donāt know if they ever took on Gallo Salami.
Wow. OTOH, I donāt care if Apple Corps sued Apple Computers, because that seemed to have some merit.
This is pretty shitty of Joeās Wine Shop.
You cannot simply ride on the coattails of anotherās hard earned brand image.
So, so shocked that this is your take.
wow. did some consulting work for Gallo . . . every blinking service or vendor or supplier used/āemployedā was an āextended familyā member.
looking at so many various things and evaluating costs, , , I was bluntly informed, , , 'donāt even think about it, thatās so-in-soās" nephew / cousin / in-law / etc".
we did come up with an ingenious solution to the ānot selling wellā products . . .
for fetching & transporting the bottled wines, the warehousing people use cart trains similar to what you see at an airport.
now and then, as predictable and usualā¦ going around a corner a trailing cart would āsnagā a 3 high pallet stack of wine casesā¦causing a cascade, crashing, smashing, āclean up on aisle xxā situation . . .
so, I suggested they simply take those slow movers/not selling wines and put them on the aisle corners . . .
