LOS ANGELES — King’s Hawaiian reached an agreement with Super Store Industries and Save Mart Supermarkets on Sept. 1, the seventh trade dress lawsuit over packaging that the baker of Hawaiian sweet bread products has settled since 2015. Terms of the settlement were kept confidential.
In the lawsuit, King’s Hawaiian alleged the Sunnyside Farms branded “Hawaiian” roll packaging infringed King’s Hawaiian’s intellectual property rights in the well-known orange packaging that King’s Hawaiian uses with its Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls.
Chad Donvito, president of King’s Hawaiian, said the company was “pleased with the settlement” and the resolution of the lawsuit. He described the King’s Hawaiian sweet dinner roll packaging as “highly distinctive” and a “core part of the King’s Hawaiian brand image.”
As part of the settlement, King’s Hawaiian said Sunnyside Farms packaging at issue in the lawsuit will be changed.
“The King’s Hawaiian packaging trade dress is one of our most valuable assets, and something that the family ownership of the company takes great pride in having developed,” Mr. Donvito said. “In order to protect it, we have assembled an excellent legal team to enforce our intellectual property rights in the trade dress.
“We have invested significant time and resources, and it is our intent that this legal team will take appropriate action to protect our trade dress any time, in any place, and at any cost.”
King’s Hawaiian has settled similar lawsuits over its packaging over the past six years, including: Sprouts Farmer’s Market (2015), Alpha Baking Co. (2016), Aldi (2016 and 2019), Pan-O-Gold Baking Co. (2018), and Southern Bakeries and Harlan Bakeries (2021). King’s Hawaiian said it also has resolved other instances of alleged infringement on favorable terms without the need to file a lawsuit in federal court.