CHICAGO -- Wawa Inc. is suing a Paterson, N.J., convenience store for trademark infringement. It alleges that Dawa Food Inc.’s name and logo is too similar to its own, causing confusion among consumers.
It isn’t the first time Wawa has gone after another company to protect its name, image and reputation. In November 2014, the Wawa, Pa.-based retailer sued a Kissimmee, Fla., restaurant owner after he opened an Indian eatery named Wawa Curry Taste of India.
After reportedly changing its name to Wava, the restaurant has since closed, according to Yelp.
In 1997 Wawa successfully sued the Haafs, the owners of Haha 24-Hour Market in Seipstown, Pa., forcing a name change.
And Wawa isn’t the only convenience retailer to pursue trademark infringement litigation. Click through for other times c-stores fought back. …
In July 2016, 7-Eleven Inc. sued Z-Eleven Convenience Store Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., for trademark infringement, dilution of its brand, unfair competition and unjust enrichment, seeking for it to remove signage that closely resembled 7-Eleven’s own, from logo to color scheme.
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven also sued the Eleven-7 Food Mart in Coney Island, N.Y., in July 2016; 7 Plus in St. Louis in March 2016; Super-7 in New Salem, Pa., in June 2015; and 7-Even in Baltimore in October 2014.
The Z-Eleven and Eleven-7 cases have not closed. 7-Eleven prevailed in the Super 7 and 7-Even cases—judges ordered that they remove all signage and merchandise with the name and logo that resembled 7-Eleven’s.
In July 2016, Buc-ee’s Ltd. sued Harlow Foods Inc., the operator of Choke Canyon Travel Center, a combined convenience store and barbecue restaurant in Atascosa, Texas, for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The travel center is using a logo and other trade dress “confusingly similar” to Buc-ee’s logo and other trademarks, according to court documents. Buc-ee’s logo is a smiling bucktoothed beaver wearing a hat on a circle; Choke Canyon’s logo is a smiling alligator wearing a hat on a circle.
That case has not yet closed.
Lake Jackson, Texas-based Buc-ee’s has gone after other retailers with logos that it deemed similar to its own, including Frio River Grocery’s beaver logo and Chicks chicken logo.
A judge dismissed Buc-ee’s lawsuit against B&B Grocery Inc. in Dec. 2014 after B&B agreed to stop using the “Frio Beaver” logo and mascot at its Garner, Texas, convenience store and gas station. In May 2013, a Texas district court dismissed Buc-ee’s lawsuit against Chick’s pending a settlement, and Bryan, Texas-based Chicks changed its logo. The following month, Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser Holdings Corp. acquired the sole Chicks location and converted it to a Stripes c-store.
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