Toilet Paper Trade Dress Suit Rolls On:
On March 1, 2010, Koch Industries Inc.’s George-Pacific unit sued Family Dollar Stores Inc. for trademark infringement. In the complaint, Georgia-Pacific alleges that Family Dollar and its supplier, Sun Paper Co. of Duncan, infringed Georgia-Pacific’s trade dress for its Quilted Northern and Angel Soft toilet paper. Family Dollar is a discount retail chain located in Mathews, North Carolina, and is accused of selling toilet paper that resembles the pattern used on Georgia Pacific’s toilet paper as well as using Georgia-Pacific’s Angel Soft and Quilted Northern trademarks without authorization. Specifically, Georgia-Pacific alleges that its marks are placed on Family Dollar’s products with the phrase “compare to” which creates a false impression that the products are in fact comparable. Georgia-Pacific claims that the Family Dollar toilet paper is inferior and therefore Georgia-Pacific has suffered harm because customers are confused and likely to think that Georgia-Pacific’s Products are the products sold at the Family Dollar (a form of Reverse Passing-Off).
This litigation is no small matter. Since 1998, sales of the Quilted Northern toilet paper exceeded $7 billion, and between 2002 and 2009, sales for the Angel Soft exceeded $5 billion. Thus, the outcome of this litigation will have serious financial implications for toilet paper producers and their marketing programs. Georgia-Pacific seeks to prevent future infringement by Family Dollar and its distributor in addition to an order preventing Family Dollar from asserting that the toilet products are comparable. Georgia-Pacific also seeks money damages, costs and attorney fees. It will be interesting to see how this suit plays out (check back for more updates).
Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Family Dollar Stores Inc., 1:10-cv-00584-JEC, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta).
News | Jonathan Menkes | 
March 8, 2010 5:58 pm | 
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