Appeals Court Revives Trader Joe’s Trademark Lawsuit Against Union

Hillel Aron writes in Courthouse News that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a trademark lawsuit between Trader Joe’s and Trader Joe’s United, a union representing some of the grocer’s employees.

The panel ruled that a district judge had improperly dismissed the supermarket’s claims that the union’s merchandise infringed on its trademarks and risked confusing consumers. Trader Joe’s v. Trader Joe’s United now returns to district court for further proceedings.

Trader Joe’s operates more than 600 stores nationwide and maintains a strong brand identity tied to its nautical-themed workforce (managers are “captains”, other employees are “crew”), and proprietary products.

In 2022, workers at a Massachusetts store unionized under the banner of Trader Joe’s United, later joined by other locations.

The union began selling merchandise such as tote bags and buttons featuring its logo: a fist holding a box cutter framed in red lettering that resembles Trader Joe’s registered marks.

The supermarket filed suit in 2023, alleging that the union’s items could cause confusion with its own popular tote bags and thereby damage its goodwill.

US District Judge Hernán Vera dismissed the case in early 2024, finding no compelling similarity and reasoning that federal law did not give Trader Joe’s jurisdiction for injunctive relief because the matter grew out of a labor dispute. He also awarded the union more than $112,000 in attorneys’ fees.

A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit disagreed, emphasizing the visual similarities in lettering, color, and design.

“How a reasonable consumer might interpret the image of a raised fist holding a boxcutter is a question of fact that cannot be resolved at the pleading stage,” wrote Judge Gabriel Sanchez.

The trademark lawsuit pits organized labor interests against intellectual property rights. Attorneys in either area will be interested in how it is ultimately decided.