Wendy's International Inc. v. Big Bite, Inc.

576 F. Supp. 816, 223 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 35, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14521
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedAugust 18, 1983
DocketC-2-83-1184
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 576 F. Supp. 816 (Wendy's International Inc. v. Big Bite, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wendy's International Inc. v. Big Bite, Inc., 576 F. Supp. 816, 223 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 35, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14521 (S.D. Ohio 1983).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DUNCAN, District Judge.

This is a trademark infringement action under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). In reality it is the latest in a series of “burger wars” which have broken out among the country’s purveyors of fast *818 food. This particular battle is being fought over a rather clever television commercial in which Big Bite, Inc., a relatively small restaurant chain, parodies a number of popular promotional characters used, by its larger and better known competitors. Among these characters is “Little Wendy,” a pigtailed, frecklefaced young girl whose smiling countenance graces the front of untold numbers of fast food franchises owned and/or operated by Wendy’s International, Inc. Little Wendy’s guardians apparently do not think that Big Bite’s parody is very funny, and they have voiced their displeasure over it loudly and with great fanfare. In the same manper, they have also filed this lawsuit.

Like its predecessors, this “war” is being fought in the courtroom of a busy federal ■ judge, and the parties have probably paid dearly for their respective armies of lawyers and expert witnesses. Regardless of which side prevails on the merits, however, neither of the combatants will come out a total loser, because, as both well know, they stand to gain thousands of dollars worth of free publicity from the attention this dispute has generated. Consequently, the only true casualties of this war will be those who are trying to move more .important matters through the Court’s crowded docket. Nonetheless, because Wendy’s has presented a colorable claim for preliminary injunctive relief under the Lanham Act, the Court is obliged to respond. Accordingly, the Court’s findings and conclusions follow. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(d).

I

The pertinent” facts are largely undisputed. Plaintiff Wendy’s International, Inc. is a popular and highly successful fast food chain which specializes in “old-fashioned” hamburgers. Little Wendy is the primary trademark of Wendy’s International, and she has been duly registered as a service mark with both the federal government and the State of Ohio. See Plaintiff’s Exhibits (PX) 23-25 and 27-31. Wendy’s has also registered the slogan “ain’t no reason to go any place else.” PX 26. This slogan was used in conjunction with Little Wendy in a relatively recent Wendy’s ad campaign which, aside from being very successful, was also the bane of various and sundry .grammarians throughout the nation. It has since been discontinued.

Defendant Big Bite, Inc. is a relatively new restaurant chain which specializes in pita bread sandwiches. On or about June 22, 1983, it began airing a television commercial which pokes fun at Wendy’s and other fast food chains, as well as each chain’s mascot. The commercial features, in order, the likenesses of Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, Little Wendy, and Ronald McDonald of the McDonald’s chain. All three appear to be in the process of ordering and/or eating a Big Bite sandwich, and each makes some comment reminiscent of a slogan or phrase which has been drilled into the public’s collective consciousness by the advertising of each character’s respective restaurant chain. In the segment lampooning Wendy’s, for instance, a cute pigtailed little girl looking very much like Little Wendy smiles rather mischievously at the camera and says, “Ain’t no reason to go any place but Big Bite,” or words to that effect. The commercial also shows a small, brooding child who proclaims matter-of-factly that “Broiling may beat frying, but Big Bite beats them both,” or words to that effect. This is obviously a slap at a recent series of ads by the Burger King chain in which the virtues of broiled hamburgers versus fried hamburgers were extolled ad infinitum.

There is no question that the Big Bite commercial is intended to parody the ad campaigns of other fast food chains, and in so doing the commercial uses trademarks normally associated with its main competitors. Although a number of witnesses at the preliminary injunction hearing attempted to point out subtle differences between the characters which appear in the commercial and their trademark counterparts, such differences, if any, are minimal. Indeed, the producers of the commercial appear to have gone to great lengths to mimick the Little Wendy mark down to its most minute *819 detail. There is little doubt, therefore, that the ad uses one or more of Wendy’s registered trademarks, and that such use is intentional.

Big Bite’s reasons for running the commercial are readily apparent. By making fun of Big Bite’s already famous competitors, the commercial draws attention to the fact that Big Bite products are somewhat different from the fare normally offered in more traditional fast food restaurants. According to Dr. Roger D. Blackwell, a professor of marketing who testified at the preliminary injunction hearing, Big Bite’s use of humor in the ad also helps cut through the “clutter” caused in viewers’ minds by constant exposure to advertising of all sorts. In short, the commercial is very effective.

. There is also evidence to indicate that Big Bite management and the advertising agents who worked on the commercial were well aware of the free publicity which would result if the ad touched off another “burger war.” Brantley Claris, the advertising executive who created the commercial, testified that although every effort was made to insure that nothing in the commercial was “actionable,” the competitive advertising of other restaurant chains and the possibility of being sued by one of the featured competitors was actively discussed in her meetings with Big Bite officials. See Claris deposition at 56-58. She admitted, in fact, that someone at one of the meetings remarked, “maybe the publicity would do us some good if they did sue.” Id. at 66.

The commercial was first aired on a number of television stations in Big Bite’s main markets, Indianapolis and Columbus. Shortly thereafter, Gilbert S. Simon, a member of Wendy’s corporate legal staff, telephoned Big Bite’s general counsel and, demanded that the commercial be withdrawn. Affidavit of Simon at 3. He followed his call up with a letter to Charles L. Rioux, Big Bite’s president, making essentially the same demand. Id. This letter was dated June 23, but it apparently was not actually received by Rioux until June 29. At about this same time, Wendy’s released the text of this letter to the press, and the media began reporting the conflict. See Simon affidavit at Exhibit F.

Although Rioux made a number of public statements about the letter during the next few days, he apparently did not respond to it, and Big Bite did not take its commercial off of the air. Wendy’s thereafter filed this lawsuit and moved for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Friday, July 1. At 3:10 p.m. that afternoon counsel for Wendy’s notified a Big Bite officer that a TRO motion had been filed, but, given the late hour and the upcoming holiday weekend, Big Bite was either unable or unwilling to send a representative to meet with the Court and opposing counsel at that time. The Court then considered Wendy’s motion

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Bluebook (online)
576 F. Supp. 816, 223 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 35, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14521, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wendys-international-inc-v-big-bite-inc-ohsd-1983.