trademark food
How does trader joes copy everything?
<p>If you have ever been to Trader Joes you'd see that ever single item is a copy of another brand. For example Joes Os are actually Oreos, Baked Cheese Crunches are actually Chetos. But they do this with ever single other item to, how do they get away with this, or pay for the rights?</p>

<p>A "similar brand", even a "knock off", does not infringe trademark protection (which is the issue here, not copyright)  as long as reasonable consumers or purchasers will not be confused or mislead into thinking that the product is the same as the original product, or is made by, affiliated with, sponsored by, or authorized by the makers of the original product, or that the knockoff in some way shares the reputation of the original product. </p>

<p>Obviously that is a fact-based judgement, but a name that alludes to another product but is obviously different is generally not considered an infringement.</p>

<p>(I recall reading of a case in which the well-known "North Face" clothing brand tried to sue a new brad called "South butt". I believe that North Face lost. <a href="https://www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com/2010/04/settlement-of-south-butt-case-unfortunate-for-trademark-owners-and-parodists-alike/" rel="noreferrer">Apparently</a> I was wrong and the case was settled.)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>But they do this with ever single other item to, how do they get away
  with this, or pay for the rights?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are different approaches.</p>

<p>One solution is to copy in a way that does not infringe any legal rights of the original producer. It is a common misconception that "copying is forbidden" in general, but this is not true. Rather, there are various different rights and rules that restrict some types of copying, but not all. Roughly speaking, there are at least three types of rights to consider:</p>

<ul>
<li>patents / utility models</li>
<li>trademarks</li>
<li>copyright / creators' rights</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Patents</strong> (or their weaker, easier to obtain sibling, <strong>utility models</strong>), cover a <strong>specific innovation</strong>. However, the innovation must be new and non-obvious, and the recipes of most foods sold in stores just do not qualify, as they are only variations on age-old recipes. Also, patents expire after 20 years.</p>

<p><strong>Trademarks</strong> are not a problem, because they only apply if the original is imitated in a way that could confuse consumers (e.g. by copying the branding, or the name). As long as you call your Oreo knockoff "Joe's delicious cream cakes", you're probably safe.</p>

<p><strong>Copyright</strong> is not relevant either, because it only applies to <strong>creative works</strong> (such as stories, images or films), and not to recipes, which only describe facts (namely how to create a certain product).</p>

<p>Finally, in some cases the products Trader Joe's sells are <strong>actually made by the same company that sells the "orignal"</strong>. This is not usually acknowledged by the companies involved, for fear of losing sales for the premium brand, but often a manufacturer will agree to make a knockoff of their premium brand for Trader Joe's, on the condition that it is sold under a different name. For example, <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article on Eater</a> lists some manufacturers that made such knockoffs.</p>

<p>They don't use the brand names. You can make a cookie, but you can't name it Oreo. </p>
