Baldwins
Added: Feb 8, 2012
The recent dispute between the Taihape-based Brown Sugar Café and the Nelson-based House of Brown Sugar Café highlights how important trade marks are to small businesses.
The matter gained media coverage in September last year when Brown Sugar Café (along with its sister business of the same name in Otaki) threatened to take legal action against House of Brown Sugar for infringing its registered trade mark “Brown Sugar Cafe”. Legal proceedings were filed late last year and, ultimately, Brown Sugar Café prevailed when House of Brown Sugar agreed to rename itself as Strawberry Bakehouse.
The owners of Brown Sugar Café were, somewhat surprisingly, seen as bullies, while House of Brown Sugar incurred significant legal costs in defending the legal proceedings and the additional expense of rebranding when its owners finally agreed to change the café’s name.