Federal court upholds Goldfish trademark

Prepared Foods, March, 1999

A New York federal court judge issued an order February 3 preventing Nabisco from marketing a new snack cracker, finding that the product would dilute the trademark of Norwalk, Conn.-based Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish snack cracker.

The court ruled that Nabisco must recall any new products that have already been distributed to retailers. The ruling decreed that the Goldfish mark is "distinctive and famous" and that Nabisco's use of the configuration in a new cheese cracker would result in unlawful "blurring" of Pepperidge's trademark. The judge also found that Nabisco acted with "predatory intent" and conduct that was "lacking in good faith."