Pepperidge Farm has filed a lawsuit against Trader Joe's, accusing the chain of infringing on its trademark by selling a cookie that has a striking resemblance to PF's Milano cookies.
In the complaint filed Wednesday, Pepperidge Farm alleges that by selling a product called Crispy Cookies, Trader Joe's is damaging its goodwill and confusing shoppers, according to Reuters.
While Pepperidge Farms concedes that the Crispy Cookies are more rectangular, the company notes the cookies also possess rounded edges, "mimicking an overall oval shape," the lawsuit says, adding that the chain also uses similar packaging.
"The acts of Trader Joe's have been malicious and calculated to injure Pepperidge Farm," PF's lawsuit said, citing the "hundreds of millions of dollars" it has made in cookie sales the past ten years, the Consumerist reported.
"Trader Joe's has willfully sought to trade on Pepperidge Farm's reputation and the reputation of the Milano cookies," the company wrote in the complaint, which seeks to halt sales of the Crispy Cookies, as well as compensatory and punitive damages, according to USA Today.
Pepperidge Farm, which launched Milano cookies in 1956, is based in Norwalk, Conn. Trader Joe's is based on the other side of the country in Monrovia, Calif.
A Pepperidge Farm spokeswoman declined to issue an official statement about the lawsuit, saying that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.
