Federal Judge Dismisses Trader Joe’s Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Union, Says Employer Attempted to “Weaponize the Legal System” Against Its Workers

On Friday, federal judge Hernán D. Vera dismissed a trademark infringement suit filed by Trader Joe’s against Trader Joe’s United, the independent union of Trader Joe’s workers.

In the order dismissing the lawsuit, Vera, a judge for the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, wrote that the lawsuit “is undoubtedly related to an existing labor dispute, and it strains credulity to believe that the present lawsuit–which itself comes dangerously close to the line of Rule 11–would have been filed absent the ongoing organizing efforts that Trader Joe’s employees have mounted (successfully) in multiple locations across the country.” 

Rule 11 allows district courts to sanction parties that submit pleadings that are frivolous, lack evidentiary support, or are submitted for an improper purpose.

Trader Joe’s filed the trademark infringement suit against Trader Joe’s United in July 2023, alleging that the union’s line of merchandise infringed on the company’s own marks and was likely to cause consumer confusion.

Judge Vera dismissed the suit “in its entirety,” stating that “there is no likelihood of confusion posed” by the union’s merchandise, as “the logos used by the union are in a different font, do not utilize the distinctive fruit basket design, apply concentric rings of different proportions, and are applied to products that no reasonable consumer could confuse as coming from Trader Joe’s itself.”

The judge also notes that the suit was filed “following a tide of contentious organizing efforts and mere days after the issuance of a consolidated NLRB complaint” against Trader Joe’s, concluding that this case is an attempt by the company “to weaponize the legal system to gain advantage in an ongoing labor dispute.”

Trader Joe’s United released the following statement about the judge’s decision: “We’ve called this lawsuit frivolous from the beginning, so its dismissal is a vindicating and joyous occasion for our union. Instead of acting in good faith, Trader Joe’s has sought to disempower organizing workers through this lawsuit and other actions. We hope this moment spurs Trader Joe’s to move forward with integrity.”

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For more information, please contact Maeg Yosef at 413-207-7447.

Read the full judge’s order here.

For more information about Trader Joe’s United, please visit our website.