LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Zaxby's is suing Louisville-based Joella's Hot Chicken over its "confusingly similar" logo, according to recently filed court documents.
The Georgia-based chicken restaurant filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Joella's Jan. 22 in Atlanta. The company alleges that Joella's Hot Chicken logo is "confusingly similar" to Zaxby's trademarked logos.
"When viewed in the ordinary market setting, Zaxby's logos and Joella's logos are highly similar and create the same overall commercial impression," the lawsuit states.
Zaxby's sent Joella's a cease-and-desist letter about the logo on Oct. 7, according to the lawsuit. The company asked for a jury trial and for Joella's to destroy everything with the logo.
A spokesperson for Zaxby's released the following statement:
"More than 300 local owners of Zaxby’s restaurants in communities across the country look to Zaxby’s Franchising LLC to protect and defend the intellectual property of the Zaxby’s brand and their licensed restaurants. As Zaxby’s franchisees, they work tirelessly to enrich lives in their restaurants and communities, and we will seek to protect the logos and trademarks that are critical to the success of their restaurants and the livelihoods of their families and team members. As this is a pending legal matter, we cannot comment further."
Joella’s Hot Chicken Corporate Office released the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
"At Joella’s Hot Chicken, we hold our product and our reputation to a high standard. We take accusations such as these seriously but are just as surprised as everyone else when looking at these two logos side-by-side. We are currently discussing next steps with our legal team. At this time, we cannot make any further comment in regard to this pending lawsuit."
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