Louisville Courier-Journal Wins 'Derby Pie' Trademark Dispute

from the by-a-furlong dept

Last month, we discussed a crazy lawsuit brought by Alan Rupp, owner of Kern's Kitchen and the trademark for the fairly famous "Derby Pie." Rupp has a reputation for policing his trademark aggressively, having gone after a myriad of online publications and blogs for publishing their own recipes, leading to the EFF at one point posting its own recipe for a "censorship pie."

But threatening blogs is one thing. Going after an established newspaper like the Louisville Courier-Journal is something quite different. Especially when that paper's only actions were, (1) publishing its own recipe for a "derby pie" that differed from that of Kern's Kitchen and, (2) reporting on the existence of other storefronts that sold derby-pie-flavored things. The paper had very clear First Amendment protections for its writings, not to mention that it wasn't using the mark in any kind of commerce. The courts have now agreed, with the latest appeal being tossed.

The Louisville Courier-Journal’s use of the words “derby pie” in a recipe and article featuring variations of the dessert did not infringe on a bakery owner’s trademark rights, the Sixth Circuit ruled. An unpublished decision released Monday by the Cincinnati-based appeals court found the 2017 articles used the term in a non-trademark fashion and therefore did not violate the Derby Pie trademark owned by Alan Rupp.

As far as the court's reasoning, it never even got to the First Amendment questions before tossing this thing in the trash. Instead, the unanimous ruling simply pointed out that the LCJ wasn't using the mark in a commercial fashion and therefore wasn't infringing on Rupp's mark. Going further, the courts pointed out that the manner in which the paper used the term resulted in no reasonable chance that anyone would be confused as to any source of goods or associations to Rupp or his bakery. In the below, Siler is the judge who wrote the opinion.

The first article included a recipe for derby pie, but Siler emphasized the article “does not denote the recipe for the Derby-Pie but a recipe for a ‘Derby pie’ … and simply informs the reader of the type of pie – a chocolate-walnut pie – that the reader can make from the recipe provided.” Siler also pointed out the article identified the Captain’s Quarters restaurant as the source of the recipe on at least two occasions, and the recipe in question was substantially different from the Rupp family recipe in that it included bourbon and excluded vanilla.

“No reader,” the judge wrote, “could possibly think that a so-called ‘Derby pie’ containing bourbon and no vanilla came from the company or companies associated with Derby-Pie.”

The opinion goes on to note that the article about how other companies were selling similar items, but not pies, could "not possibly" come to think that any of those companies were related to Rupp or Kern's Kitchen.

Again, the court never even got to the First Amendment protections the LCJ has in all of this, which would have been yet another reason to toss this case in the trash. In the end, Rupp's lawsuit was always a longshot that very few would have bet on. Now that it's dead, hopefully it will find its way to the glue factory for good.

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Filed Under: alan rupp, derby pie, recipes, trademark
Companies: kern's kitchen, louisville courier-journal


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2021 @ 9:15pm

    Maybe the EFF could make an "a-hole pie" that tastes like Alan Rupp.

    Gross!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Dr. David T. Macknet (profile), 12 Jan 2021 @ 9:47pm

    Sarcasm?

    I feel like the final paragraph in Siler's opinion is sarcasm?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JustMe (profile), 13 Jan 2021 @ 7:21am

      Re: Sarcasm?

      Do you mean the last paragraph quoted in the summary above, or the paragraphs on pages 9 or 8 of the judgement? Cuz I don't see those as sarcastic but I might be missing something.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Dr. David T. Macknet (profile), 13 Jan 2021 @ 7:55am

        Re: Re: Sarcasm?

        My apologies. In the article, the final paragraph quoted:
        “No reader,” the judge wrote, “could possibly think that a so-called ‘Derby pie’ containing bourbon and no vanilla came from the company or companies associated with Derby-Pie.”
        Seems over the top and also obviously false. So, it feels like they're making fun of the whole thing.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          JustMe (profile), 13 Jan 2021 @ 11:31am

          Re: Re: Re: Sarcasm?

          Agree

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2021 @ 3:05pm

          Re: Re: Re: Sarcasm?

          Why obviously false?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Dr. David T. Macknet (profile), 13 Jan 2021 @ 3:53pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Sarcasm?

            Even the most discerning palate wouldn't be able to tell the difference between bourbon and vanilla once it had been baked in a pie, of course. But that's not the point.

            I could argue:

            • "derby pie" is still a trademark, so it hasn't become a common term (resulting in "every" reader knowing about it well enough to know about vanilla vs bourbon).
            • the judge asserts that everyone would know, even while issuing a judgment maintaining the trademark.
            • you are yanking my chain.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2021 @ 12:14pm

    For anyone curious about the recipe, but who doesn't want to have to click through three different times to get to the EFF-linked blog post in question, here it is directly.

    https://itallstartedwithmacandcheese.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/derby-dessert/

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2021 @ 3:08pm

    Now the Kentucky Derby corp or whatever can sue Rupp for causing confusion that the Derby created* or officially endorses the Pie.

    *Or possibly created by racehorces. Whatever.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Eduard Philiphs (profile), 2 Mar 2021 @ 12:02pm

    From my point of view it seems sarcasm in the last paragraph, I think that from reading so much about pies I started to want to eat one, I have chocolates next to me that I buy at https://chocolateandlove.com and while I read I eat these chocolates and I think, did this situation really have to come to court?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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